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Celebrating the Literary Voices of County Leitrim

Discover authors, their stories, and the works inspired by this beautiful county.

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☘️ Leitrim’s Literary Legacy

This site is a space to explore the lives and works of authors from County Leitrim, and those who have written about it. Together, their writings offer a rich record of Leitrim’s people, places, and past — and help keep its stories alive. You’ll find author profiles, book lists, and links to where you can read or purchase their work. I’m also working to bring hard-to-find titles back into circulation and to help contemporary authors reach new readers. Whether you’re here to rediscover a forgotten voice or find someone new, céad míle fáilte.

📰 New & Noteworthy

📖 New Release: The Wind and the Hearth

Leitrim Books is pleased to announce the publication of The Wind and the Hearth: The Collected Works of Nora J. Murray. Continuing our dedication to the voices that have shaped the literary landscape of County Leitrim, this new volume restores a vivid, long-quiet writer to the modern reader. At the center of this release is her original 1918 poetry collection, A Wind Upon the Heath, returned to print at last and gathered together with her uncollected poems, essays, short stories, and a newly researched biographical introduction.

Born in Carrick-on-Shannon, Nora J. Murray was a schoolmistress and a sharp-eyed observer who captured the reality of early twentieth-century Ireland from the hearthside and rural boreens. Her writing moves beautifully from the lyrical, blue-hazed mountains of her poetry to the sharp, knowing humour of her prose, where she had the measure of the tramping man and the strong farmer alike. More than just a literary artifact, The Wind and the Hearth is a welcome seat by the fire with a generation that has passed, offering a true window into the soul of the West.

👤 Recently Added Authors

Our author list is always growing! Here are the three most recent additions connected to the county. Discover their stories and their work:

Spotlight on Authors

Rev. Francis X. Gilfillan

Rev. Gilfillan, a native of County Leitrim, was a historian and Catholic bishop whose writings and leadership bridged his Irish heritage and his American ministry.

John McDonald

McDonald was a Leitrim-born poet, schoolteacher, and nationalist whose poems gave voice to the hopes of rural Ireland during the Land League and Home Rule era.

Conor Mc Manus

Mc Manus is a writer from Drumshanbo whose award-nominated fiction and poetry have appeared widely, with his collection of 25 short stories titled Drumshanbo published in 2021.

“I think that each of us inhabits a private world that others cannot see. The only difference between the writer and the reader is that the writer is able to dramatise that private world.”
— John McGahern

🔍 Explore Leitrim’s Literary Heritage

Start exploring the stories of Leitrim — through the voices of its writers and those who’ve written it into memory.

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