Romantic Irish Landscapes: What Your History Books Got Wrong

The romance and beauty of Ireland's landscapes are presented in breathtaking photographs, with a text emphasizing the stories behind places relatively unchanged for the last 1,000 years.

Using photographs of spectacularly beautiful places to tell the history and legends of Ireland, this evocative volume takes us from the Hill of Tara, location of the ancient palace of the High Kings of Ireland, to early Christian sites such as Glendalough, where Saint Kevin founded a center of learning and pilgrimage during the Dark Ages. This is the portrait of an isolated land in transition between pagan Celtic culture and Christianity. Remnants of this shift, over one thousand years old, survive in Ireland today.

Romantic Irish Landscapes begins with a brief outline of early Irish history from prehistoric times to the first Viking invasions. The bulk of the book is divided into sections reflecting the political divisions of pre-Christian Ireland. The Middle Kingdom (Meath and Westmeath) was the royal and sacred heart of ancient Ireland. Two evocative names in Ireland are here: Tara, where the High Kings were crowned and where Saint Patrick laid down his challenge to paganism; and Newgrange, the sacred tomb of Irish legend. The Land of Cu Chulainn (Ulster and the northeast), where St. Patrick is buried, is full of legendary sites, from the Giant's Causeway to the Mountains of Mourne. The Kingdom of Lenster (southeast) contains many of the Viking invaders' settlements, such as Dublin and Clontarf. The Kingdom of Munster (southwest) and the Kingdom of Connaught (northwest) are the most unspoiled parts of Ireland with miles of rugged coastline dotted with ancient forts and monasteries. This visualand historical overview will be especially appealing for everyone who has visited, or hopes to visit, this haunting and beautiful land.