Coming up on St. Patrick’s Day, I always want to read historical romances featuring Ireland - or at the very least, some romance books with Irish heroes and heroines!

In this round-up of historical romances, I’m sharing novels with Irish characters and with their Irish identity as part of the story. Some of these historical romances are set in Ireland, while others feature Irish characters in the wider world. They also run the gamut of closed-door romance to steamy, on-page intimacy. Even after rounding up this list, I need more Regency Irish historical romance books in my life, so please comment below with your own entries!

8 Irish Historical Romance Novels:

(In chronological order of their eras)

Desire’s Ransom

Glynnis Campbell

Era: Medieval Ireland

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.39

Lady Robin Hood steals a knight's heart!

Heiress to her Irish clan, spirited Temair O'Keeffe forsakes her destiny to join a band of woodland outlaws who rob from the rich and give to the poor-those impoverished by her greedy father. So when a powerful English knight, Sir Ryland de Ware, is sent by the newly crowned King John to form an alliance by wedding Temair, Ryland's first quest is to find his runaway bride. Independent Temair doesn't wish to be found, but she can't abandon her clan to a land-hungry foreigner. So she boldly waylays her bridegroom in the forest and holds him captive, demanding her rightful title as ransom, unaware the irresistible knight intends to earn her trust, steal her heart, and claim her as his prize.

The Red Drifter of the Sea

Celeste Barclay

Era: Medieval Ireland

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.61

The seven seas may be his home, but this pirate is ready to drop anchor…
Kyle MacLean set sail on a life of adventure with his brother, Keith, when the twins were still lads. Orphaned with no choices left, Kyle and Keith find themselves aboard one pirate ship after another. When Kyle inherits the Lady Charity from the Dark Heart, he earns his deadly reputation as the Red Drifter for leaving his captives with only a wooden board. But when he attacks the ship holding a woman he’s admired from afar, Kyle’s heart is the one set adrift.

Love hides in the most unexpected places aboard a pirate ship…

Lady Moira MacDonnell flees her home and her duplicitous brother in the dead of night to avoid being betrothed to a vile man. Smuggled aboard a ship on her way to freedom, Moira discovers the man she once admired is now the man holding her captive. Tired of being forced into silence, Moira unleashes her rebellious streak...which lands her over the Red Drifter’s knee. When her emotions aren’t the only thing tied up, Moira must make a desperate choice between a dangerous life as a pirate queen or the safety she seeks with the reformed pirates, the Dark Heart and the Blond Devil, and their families.

As danger lurks along the Irish coast, Kyle and Moira find their budding romance challenged by the very men Moira fled. Separated at sea, Moira and Kyle fight on land to make their way back to one another. But can a pirate and his lady learn to rely on one another or is their love doomed to the bottom of the Irish Sea?

The Princess

Claire Delacroix

Era: Medieval Ireland

Average Goodreads Rating: 3.91

Princess Brianna of Tullymullagh is determined to marry only for love—until her father’s holding is conquered and the king decrees that she must wed one of the victor’s sons. Thinking she can outwit this condition, Brianna issues a challenge: the son who brings her a gift that makes her laugh will win her hand.

Thus begins the Bride Quest of the three brothers Fitzgavin.

Burke and Rowan, knights both, ride out on Brianna’s quest, each intent upon triumph. Only Luc refuses to participate, for he knows that a princess had no place in the life of a battle-weary warrior like himself. Brianna is not inclined to accept his refusal—she tempts him and awakens his slumbering senses with her alluring beauty and her sweet kisses. Luc has sworn to lay down his sword forever—until he is the sole one who can defend the fair maiden who has claimed his shielded heart.

High Warrior

Kathryn Le Veque

Era: Medieval England

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.58

The man known as the "High Warrior" is an Irish knight with an English overlord. Sir Bric MacRohan serves the House of de Winter as the head of the de Winter war machine. He is big, loud, and fearless.

Once the most aggressive, all-powerful knight in the realm, a great injury forces Bric to realize that he is, indeed, mortal. Though he recovers from the injury, it changes how he commands his men and how he handles himself in battle. Mentally he is far more injured than he is physically.

Enter Lady Eiselle de Gael. The daughter of a bastard of the Earls of East Anglia, Eiselle is "gifted" to Bric by a very dear friend as a reward for saving the man's life. The lady is resigned, but Bric is positively adverse. He doesn't see it as a reward; he sees it as a punishment.

When the greatest swordsman that England has ever seen lays down his weapon due to battle fatigue, it's up to Eiselle and those who love Bric to pull together to help Bric recover what he has lost . . . himself.

The Charmer Without a Cause

Katherine Grant (me!)

Era: Regency England

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.75

Everyone knows that a happy marriage begins with a lot of money and one good lie…

When Benjamin Preston falls in love with Lady Lydia Deveraux at first sight, his family thinks this is the start of yet another of his failed courtships. Benjamin is almost as surprised as they are when Lydia encourages his attention and even agrees to marry him. His family suspects she is after his newly-inherited ten thousand pounds, but Benjamin holds out hope that at last he has found his true love.

Lydia can’t help finding Benjamin attractive. After all, he is handsome, kind, and compassionate. But her heart belongs to Ireland - and to an Irish rebel who died for the cause of freedom. Now Lydia is determined to marry for wealth and political influence so she can help free Ireland from Britain’s rule.

Even if that means trapping Benjamin in a loveless marriage.

As their courtship progresses, Lydia and Benjamin find themselves caught in a web of lies, plots, and unquenchable lust. The only question is: can they help Ireland without breaking each other’s hearts? 

The Rapscallion’s Romance

Tabetha Waite

Era: Regency England

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.46

Fallon O’Malley is hoping to make a fresh start in Southampton following the recent death of her grandmother. She’s never had any love for the British, but when she has the chance to make a fresh start in England and reconnect with estranged family, she decides to leave her beloved homeland. It isn’t until she arrives that she realizes that she might have just made a grave mistake. In a desperate attempt to return where things are familiar, she seeks out the assistance of a known rapscallion.

Atticus Clare is a wealthy merchant by day, but by night he dons the guise of the Raven, an Irish sympathizer who assists the rebellion against England. Everything is working for his favor until he meets Fallon. He’s instantly drawn to her, even though he knows it would be dangerous in the extreme to form an attachment. But when unforeseen circumstances drawn them closer, he realizes how foolish he’d been to think he could ever resist her allure.

As things culminate, Atticus has to make a difficult choice, but nothing he does might save him from certain demise if all his secrets are revealed. Can his love for Fallon truly conquer the forces against them?

The Art of Temptation

Lauren Royal

Era: Regency England

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.24

Sean Delaney has no shortage of female admirers, but all he wants is a divorce—for his sister, that is. Too bad her rotter of a husband, reclusive oil painter John Hamilton, won't consent unless Sean agrees to help him pull off a major deception. With his sister's happiness on the line, Sean has no choice. But he won't be able to do it alone…

Though Lady Corinna Chase is more interested in pursuing her art than finding a husband, she can't help but take notice of the handsome Irishman who's moved in next door. When it soon becomes evident that her new neighbor isn't who he says he is, rather than expose him, she finds herself drawn into the hoax. As collaboration grows into admiration, and temptation breeds desire, Corinna faces a difficult choice: Will she abandon her artistic ambitions, or give up the man she's come to love?

Meanwhile, Corinna's brother Griffin is helping their alluring cousin Rachael find her father. Thank goodness they're cousins, because Rachael has made it clear she won't ever marry one. Except…they discover she isn't really his cousin. Good God, he's really in trouble now…

The Winds of Morning

Gifford MacShane

Era: Victorian Ireland

Average Goodreads Rating: 4.59

1848: the third year the potato crop failed in Ireland. The Protestant landlords have absconded back to Britain, leaving the Catholic peasants to fend for themselves, while the English government allowed the export of tens of thousands of tons of Irish food daily.

With two younger brothers to feed, Molly O'Brien took her father's place on the road gang, building a road that runs from her tiny village to the river and no farther. Yet sixteen hours of labor a day would not garner enough wages to buy food for her family.

She was beyond despair. Beyond prayer. And so far beyond the tenets of her childhood, she'd decided to offer her body to the first man with the price of a loaf of bread. At that moment, a voice behind her spoke...