Contradictory findings often emerge from research into parental involvement in education. Failure to account for national context may be a contributory factor. This paper uses a multilevel framework and Irish data from the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study to examine associations between reading achievement and parental involvement. Findings show that informal measures of parental involvement accounted for a greater proportion of variance in reading achievement than formal or communication measures. There is some evidence that parental involvement can mitigate the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage. Low levels of parental monitoring, as measured by pupils having a TV in their bedroom or their own smartphone, are negatively associated with achievement, suggesting a need for ongoing parental education about this topic.