Celebrating our Irish heritage, the writers we love and generations of readers

A book you couldn’t put down. A childhood favourite you now share with your own children. A gift chosen because it reminded you of someone special. Books become part of our lives, and at Eason, we’re proud to have been part of those discoveries for 140 years.

In 2026, we celebrate a story that began in 1886, when Charles Eason and his son purchased the Irish business of W.H. Smith, establishing Eason & Son. From those Dublin beginnings, our story has grown alongside generations of Irish readers.

A story woven into Ireland’s own

Our history reaches beyond the bookshop shelves. Railway bookstalls were an important part of the early business, bringing books and newspapers to people on the move. Long before readers could browse on their phones, a journey offered the chance to pick up something new to read.

Our O’Connell Street home has its own remarkable story. Eason purchased premises on the street, then called Sackville Street, in 1887. Both the O’Connell Street and Abbey Street buildings were destroyed during the Easter Rising in 1916, before being rebuilt and reopened in 1919.

Discover Eason's history

Celebrating the voices of Ireland

An anniversary is the perfect reason to revisit old favourites and discover someone new.

Ireland’s writing gives us so much to explore: the poetry of W.B. Yeats and Seamus Heaney, the wit and warmth of Roddy Doyle, and the precise, moving storytelling of Claire Keegan. Doyle’s Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won the Booker Prize in 1993; Keegan’s Small Things Like These reached the shortlist in 2022. Their books offer very different windows into Irish life, with stories that travel far beyond our shores.

That tradition continues with writers such as Sally Rooney and Paul Lynch, whose Prophet Song won the 2023 Booker Prize. Irish writing keeps finding fresh ways to explore how we live, what we believe and how we connect with one another.

And there is much more to discover beyond fiction: books about our history and landscape, memoirs that share extraordinary lives, food writing to bring into your kitchen, and children’s stories to spark a lifelong love of reading.

Discover Irish writing

Find a familiar favourite or a new voice to fall in love with.