This thesis is concerned with the depiction of working-class Dublin in Roddy Doyle's first three novels, The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van, known as The Barrytown Trilogy. The first part of the thesis provides a short overview of Doyle's early work in the context of modern Irish fiction with a focus on working-class protagonists and outlines Ireland's and specifically Dublin's cultural and economic background in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. The second part is based on a comparative analysis of the three books in which the author celebrates everyday life in Barrytown, a fictitious neighbourhood in the north of Dublin, through the eyes of a typical working-class family. One section is also dedicated to the language of the trilogy used as a means of achieving greater authenticity. KEYWORDS Roddy Doyle, The Barrytown Trilogy, The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van, Irish literature, Dublin, working class, family, 1980s, 1990s