‘The Ghosts of Rome’ by Joseph O’Connor has been announced as the overall ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year 2025’ in a one-hour television special on RTÉ One
Described by the Irish Times as an “extraordinary picture of Rome under Nazi control; brutal, chaotic, treacherous, decaying, wrecked and crumbling, and yet sometimes still bathed in glorious and unexpected light’, The Ghosts of Rome instantly became Number One in the Irish bestseller chart after three days on sale, remaining in the overall Irish Top Ten for five weeks and in the Irish Paperback Top Ten for sixteen weeks.
Paul Howard, Chair of the Judging Panel, said: “…It’s a beautiful piece of writing as well as a thrilling piece of historical fiction. In dealing with the theme of good people standing up to the evils of Fascism, it has strong resonance for the times in which we are living.”
The Ghosts of Rome is the second in Joseph O’Connor’s Escape Line Trilogy, the first novel, My Father’s House, was also an Irish Number One bestseller and has now sold more than 150,000 copies in English. Joseph is currently working on the next novel in the trilogy, which is expected to be published in early 2027.
The book was among six titles competing for the accolade, all of which were category winners at the recent 2025 An Post Irish Book Awards. The six books were shortlisted on the principle that they secured the highest number of votes during the shortlist voting process across all categories. Joseph O’Connor’s book won ‘The Last Word Listeners’ Choice Award’ at the recent An Post Irish Book Awards and was chosen as the overall An Post Irish Book of the Year 2025 winner by a distinguished panel of judges.
The six nominated titles are the category winners for the Eason Novel of the Year; Dubray Biography of the Year; The Last Word Listeners’ Choice Award; Eason Sports Book of the Year; International Education Services Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year, in honour of John Treacy; and TheJournal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year:
- The Ghosts of Rome – Joseph O’Connor (Harvill, Penguin)
- Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun) – Manchán Magan, illustrated by Megan Luddy (Gill Books)
- Nesting – Roisín O’Donnell (Sribner Books from Simon & Schuster)
- Solo – Gráinne O’Brien (Little Island Books)
- Heart on My Sleeve – Andrew Porter (Eriu)
- A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing – Sarah Corbett Lynch (Hachette Books Ireland)
Joseph O’Connor is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright and broadcaster from Dublin. He is the author of eleven novels including ‘Star of the Sea’, ‘Ghost Light’ (Dublin One City One Book novel 2011) and ‘Shadowplay’. Among his awards are the Prix Zepter for European Novel of the Year, France’s Prix Millepages, Italy’s Premio Acerbi, an American Library Association Award and the Irish Pen Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature. His work has also been translated into forty languages and in 2014, he was appointed Frank McCourt Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick.
A frequent and acclaimed broadcaster, Joseph O’Connor has worked with many musicians, including Paul Brady, The Chieftains, Camille O’Sullivan, Mel Mercier, Martin Hayes, Iarla O’Lionaird, composer Brian Byrne and Scullion. He has performed spoken-word pieces at major venues including the National Concert Hall, New York’s Lincoln Centre, the Barbican Centre, London, and the Royal Albert Hall.