Novels
The Ikon Maker
- Dublin, Co-Op Books, 1976
- London: Writers and Readers Publishing Cooperative, 1979, ISBN 0-904613-55-0
- New York: Braziller, 1979, ISBN 0-8076-0929-3
- London: Pulsiver, 1987, ISBN 0-948849-00-2 (PB)
- London: Faber and Faber, 1993, ISBN 0-571-16768-3 (PB)
The Leaves on Grey
- London, Hamish Hamilton, 1980, ISBN 0-241-10364-9
- New York: Braziller, 1980, ISBN 0-8076-0948-X
- Thorndike Press, USA, 1980 ISBN 0-89621-258-0 (Large Type)
- London: Pan Books, 1981, ISBN 0-330-26287-4
A Curious Street
- London: Hamish Hamilton, 1984, ISBN 0-241-10758-X
- New York: Braziller, 1984, ISBN 0-8076-1099-2 (HB)
- London: Pan, 1985, ISBN 0-241-10758-X (PB)
- Published in German as: Eine merkwürdige Straße, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1997, ISBN 3-518-40827-5
A New Shirt
- London: Hamish Hamilton, 1986
- London: Faber and Faber, 1987, ISBN 0-571-14911-1
Farewell to Prague
- London: Faber and Faber, 1995, ISBN 0-571-17427-2
Short Story collections
Diamonds at the Bottom of the Sea and Other Stories
- London: Hamish Hamilton, 1979, ISBN 0-241-10123-9 (HB)
- New York: Braziller, 1980, ISBN 0-8076-0934-X (HB)
Children of Lir: Stories from Ireland
- London: Hamish Hamilton, 1981, ISBN 0-241-10608-7
- New York: Braziller, 1981.
Stories: the Diamonds at the Bottom of the Sea, Children of Lir
- London: Picador, 1982, ISBN 0-330-26624-1 (PB)
The Mourning Thief and Other Stories'
- London, Faber and Faber, 1987
Lebanon Lodge
- London: Faber and Faber, 1988
- London: Faber and Faber, 1989, ISBN 0-571-15313-5 (PB)
A Link With the River. Stories
- [US edition of The Mourning Thief and Lebanon Lodge]
- New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1989, ISBN 0-374-18461-5 (HB), ISBN 0-374-53003-3 (PB)
Elysium: Stories
- Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1995, ISBN 3-351-02817-2
Lark's Eggs: New and Selected Stories
- Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 2005, ISBN 1-84351-071-5
Old Swords and other stories
- Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 2009, ISBN 1-84351-144-1
Travel Writing
The Edge of the City: A Scrapbook 1976-91
- Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1993, ISBN 1-874675-03-1
- London: Faber & Faber, 1993, ISBN 0-571-16881-7
Plays
A Short Walk to the Sea (1976)'
- staged by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin on 20 October 1976.
- published with Paschal Finnan's The Swine and the Potswalloper, by Co-Op Books, Dublin in 1979.
Sanctified Distances
(1976)'
- staged by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin on 9 December 1976.
The Squat (1976)'
- Performed at the Project Arts Centre's Festival, Dublin in 1976.
The Mourning Thief
(TV)
- his first television play.
The Ikon Maker (1980)
- staged by Green Fields and Far Away Theatre Company, touring UK 1980.
Contributions and introductions in edited volumes, journals, magazines, etc.
in: Kevin Casey (ed.),
Winter's Tales From Ireland 2, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1972, ISBN 0-7171-0592-X
"
The Birth of Laughter", in Joseph Hone (ed),
Irish Ghost Stories, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1977, ISBN 0-241-89680-0
"
Southern Birds", in:
Granta (1980) 3, ISBN 0-14-014577-X
in: T. J. Binding (ed.),
Firebird 1: Writing Today, London: Penguin/Allen Lane, 1982.
"
Alan’s Novel", in: Robin Robertson (ed.),
Firebird 3, London: Penguin, 1984, ISBN 0-14-006797-3
Introduction to Kate O’Brien’s,
Without my cloak, London: Virago, 1984, ISBN 0-86068-760-0 pbk (also Harmondsworth: Penguin 1987, ISBN 0-14-016155-4 and London: Virago, 2001, ISBN 0-86068-760-0)
"
The Tipperary Fanale", in: Judy Cooke & Elizabeth Bunster (eds.), The Best of Fiction Magazine, London: J.M. Dent, 1986, pp. 236—249, ISBN 0-460-02464-7
"
Guy "Micko" Delaney" (novelette), in: Robin Baird-Smith (ed.), Winter’s Tales, New Series: 4, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988, pp. 21—45, ISBN 0-312-02480-0
"
The cold wind and the warm", in: Alberto Manguel & Craig Stephenson (eds), In another part of the forest : an anthology of gay short fiction, New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1994, ISBN 0-517-88156-X
David Marcus (ed.),
Alternative Loves: Irish Gay and Lesbian Stories, Dublin: Martello Books, 1994, ISBN 1-86023-001-6
"
Jimmy", in: David Leavitt & Mark Mitchell (eds.),
The Penguin Book Of Gay Short Stories, New York: Viking, 1994, ISBN 0-670-85152-3 (republished in 2004, ISBN 0-14-101005-3)
"
A Curious Street", in: Dermot Bolger (ed.),
The Vintage Book of Contemporary Irish Fiction, New York: Vintage, 1995, ISBN 0-679-76546-8
"
Afternoon", in: Steve MacDonagh (ed.), Brandon Book of Irish Short Stories, Dingle: Brandon, 1998, ISBN 0-86322-237-4
"
A country dance", in: Colm Tóibín (ed.),
The Penguin Book of Irish Fiction, London: Penguin, 1999, ISBN 0-14-029849-5 and ISBN 0-670-89108-8
"
The bombs", in: John Somer and John J. Daly (eds.),
Anchor Book of New Irish Writing: The New Gaelach Ficsean, Anchor, 2000, ISBN 0-385-49889-6
"
Eine seltsame Straße", in: Dirck Linck (ed.),
Sodom ist kein Vaterland. Literarische Streifzüge durch das schwule Europa, Berlin: Querverlag, 2001, pp. 175—182, ISBN 3-89656-066-2
"
Airedale", in: William Trevor (ed.),
The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories, Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002, ISBN 0-19-280193-7
Andrew O'Hagan and Colm Tóibín,
New Writing 11, Picador 2002, ISBN 0-330-48597-0
"
Barnacle Geese", in: Sebastian Barker (ed.),
The London Magazine, June/July 2004, ISSN 0024-6085
"
Iowa", in: Sebastian Barker (ed.),
The London Magazine, February/March 2005, ISSN 0024-6085
"
Rose of Lebanon", in: Rebecca Bengal (ed.),
American Short Fiction, Issue 33, Winter 2006, ISSN 1051-4813
"
Shelter", in: Sebastian Barker (ed.),
The London Magazine, February/March 2005, ISSN 0024-6085
"
The Hare's Purse", in: Stacey Swann, Rebecca Bengal, Jill Meyers (ed.),
American Short Fiction, Issue 38, Summer 2007, ISSN 1051-4813
Readings
- 1970s: Participated in readings in The Sarsfield Bar, Rutland Street. Limerick. Organised by John Liddy.
- 26 July 1989: Galway Arts Centre, Galway Arts Festival.
- 2002: Sean Dunne Literary festival
- 21—22 September 2002: Annual International Frank O'Connor Festival of the Short Story
- 8 July 2004. Dublin. Launch of Munster Literature Centre journal Southword.
- 2004: Galway County Library
- 20 April 2005: Cúirt International Festival of Literature, Galway. Along with Ronan Bennett.