This book features eighty castles built between the 1170s and the 1590s which are normally accessible to the public, and all but fifteen of which are at least partly ruined. Many other castles are discussed and illustrated in a long series of introductory chapters outlining the development and use of castles in Ireland up to the end of the 16th century. Previous books discussing medieval castles in Ireland have tended to focus mostly on buildings of the late 12th and 13th centuries, but this book discusses the later medieval tower houses and bawns in considerable detail. The period discussed in this book extends that of other titles in this series so as to include some particularly interesting late 16th century towers and bawns which are still essentially medieval in character. However, 17th century fortified houses are only briefly mentioned, and only minimal detail is given about sieges during the mid 17th century so that the main focus is on buildings and events prior to the plantations which followed the Flight of the Earls in 1607.
