[3] It is mentioned in James Joyce's modernist novel Ulysses, at the time of which it would have been situated at 104 Grafton Street,[4][3] and the novel Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, and in other writings.

[3] The impact of building works and wartime absence led to a financial restructuring in 1920, which saw the business surrender its premises and move to 20 Nassau Street.

The shop also hosted major book launches, including that of a special edition of the Táin Bó Cúailnge with illustrations by Louis le Brocquy.

[3] A bicentennial event was held in 1968, marked by the release of a 1,700-volume Celtic Studies catalogue at a reception attended by Archbishop and scholar George Simms, and Allen and Francis, and Neville, Figgis.

[10] Hodges Figgis took over the lease of 56 Dawson Street, the former Browne and Nolan bookshop, in 1979, for university, library supplies and Celtic studies sales, and eventually schoolbooks also.

In 1995, Pentos went into receivership and its businesses, Dillons, including Hodges Figgis, and office stationery and furniture operations, were put up for sale.

[12] In the end, the bookselling business was sold to Thorn EMI, and in 1995, the Dawson Street shop closed for four hours to allow for the legal transfer of ownership, the only official disruption to trade in over 200 years.

[3][18] In June 2018, US hedge fund Elliott Investment Management acquired a majority holding in Waterstones, with Mamut's company retaining a minority stake.

[17] Hodges Figgis has been mentioned in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as in popular works of fiction such as James Joyce's Ulysses, Sally Rooney's Conversations with Friends and John Boyne's The Heart's Invisible Furies, and in a poem by Paul Durcan.

[29][3][30] A volume of new writing by contemporary Irish writers, with an appendix on the shop's history, was published to commemorate Hodges Figgis's 250th anniversary in 2018,[7] with the proceeds going to charitable literacy works.

It featured a wide variety of forms, by 250 authors, playwrights and poets,[7] over more than 700 pages, and cover artwork by Pauline Bewick; all contributors, and the editor, gave their efforts at no charge.