Some of the most romantic castles in the world are found in the Celtic nations on the northwestern fringes of Europe.

These strongholds may now largely be ruined, but in their dilapidation they have gained an air of mystery and beauty. The people they once protected are gone, the borders they guarded have dissolved, the fragile communities and wooden buildings that built up around them have been dismantled. Only the castles, centuries on, remain – proof of how robustly they were constructed in the first place.

From the tip of southern Ireland to northern Scotland, from castles maintained over the centuries to ones that are now mere ruins, Castles of Scotland, Ireland & Wales celebrates the stories behind more than 100 strongholds.

In these we find tales of religious dissent, of English Parliamentarians attacking Irish Catholic refuges, of warring Scottish clans, of the Welsh fighting for independence. And in the buildings we find such curiosities as Britain’s only triangular castle or the hiding place for the Scottish crown jewels.

With 150 outstanding photographs, Castles of Scotland, Ireland & Wales is a brilliant pictorial examination of worlds gone by.