The Recurring Cast
Roddy Doyle books in order · Roddy Doyle reading order · 12 books · 1987 to 2020 · Mostly set in Dublin

Roddy Doyle Books in Order and Reading Order

Literary and generalLiterary fictionComic fiction

Roddy Doyle writes funny, tender and furious novels about working-class Dublin. The Commitments began his Barrytown novels, and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won the Booker Prize.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip.

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Roddy Doyle books in order

Where to start: Paula Spencer with The Woman Who Walked into Doors (1996); The Last Roundup with A Star Called Henry (1999). There are 12 books in all, published from 1987 to 2020, across 4 series and groups.

The Roddy Doyle reading order: each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

See the Roddy Doyle reading flowchart: every series side by side, with first appearances and crossovers.

The Barrytown novels

4 books · Set in the fictional Barrytown, DublinComic fiction
  1. 1The Commitments1987With Jimmy RabbitteBuy on Amazon
  2. 2The Snapper1990With Jimmy Rabbitte Sr and Sharon RabbitteBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Van1991With Jimmy Rabbitte SrBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Guts2013With Jimmy RabbitteBuy on Amazon

Paula Spencer

2 books · Set in DublinLiterary fiction
  1. 1The Woman Who Walked into Doors1996With Paula SpencerBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Paula Spencer2006With Paula SpencerBuy on Amazon

The Last Roundup

3 books · Mostly set in DublinLiterary fiction
  1. 1A Star Called Henry1999With Henry SmartBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Oh, Play That Thing2004With Henry Smart · Set in New York and ChicagoBuy on Amazon
  3. 3The Dead Republic2010With Henry SmartBuy on Amazon

Novels

3 books · Set in DublinLiterary fiction
  1. 1Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha1993With Paddy ClarkeBuy on Amazon
  2. 2Smile2017With Victor FordeBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Love2020Buy on Amazon

Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
The chart needs JavaScript. The reading order above and the character list below work without it.

Characters

7 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

The Rabbittes of Barrytown

Paula Spencer

Henry Smart

Leads

Similar authors

If you enjoy Roddy Doyle, try these writers, chosen for shared genres, settings and readership.

Roisín O’DonnellLiterary fiction, also set in Dublin. Start with Ciara.Claire KeeganLiterary fiction, also set in Dublin. Start with The girl.Sally RooneyLiterary fiction, also set in Dublin. Start with Frances.Colm TóibínLiterary fiction, also from Ireland. Start with Eilis Lacey.Paul LynchLiterary fiction, also from Ireland. Start with Grace Coyle.Donal RyanLiterary fiction, also from Ireland. Start with Johnsey Cunliffe.