A small island with an outsized share of the world’s books. We start with Ireland’s four Nobel laureates in literature, each of whom found part of their voice abroad.
Nobel Prize in Literature, 1923
Born in Dublin and shaped by Sligo, where he spent childhood summers and is buried, at Drumcliff. He co-founded the Abbey Theatre in 1904 and gathered folk tales from the west alongside Lady Gregory, giving the old stories a new audience.
Nobel Prize in Literature, 1925
Born in Dublin, he moved to London at twenty and became the most performed playwright of his age. He was the first person to win both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar, for the screenplay of Pygmalion. He left part of his estate to the National Gallery of Ireland, where he had spent his boyhood afternoons. Royalties from My Fair Lady still help fund it.
Nobel Prize in Literature, 1969
Born in Foxrock, Dublin, he made his life in Paris and wrote much of his work in French, including Waiting for Godot. During the Second World War he served in the French Resistance and was later awarded the Croix de Guerre.
Nobel Prize in Literature, 1995
Born on a farm in Co. Derry, he wrote about turf, wells and bogs in a way read all over the world. His translation of Beowulf brought an Old English poem to a new generation. His last words, texted to his wife, were in Latin: Noli timere, “Don’t be afraid”.
Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, Brendan Behan, Flann O’Brien, Peig Sayers and the Blasket writers, Edna O’Brien and Maeve Binchy. For full biographies, see the Dictionary of Irish Biography.