"The Hook Peninsula continues the Irish Rural Landscape series, building on the research agenda established by the internationally successful Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape. Located in county Wexford, this region was the first to be conquered by the Anglo-Normans and its landscape was shaped by the establishment of two Cistercian abbeys (Tintern and Dunbrody) in the Middle Ages. The location of the peninsula beside a major estuary and busy shipping lanes was of vital importance. The Hook figured prominently in the Confederate Wars in the seventeenth century and in the 1798 rebellion." "This compact and highly distinctive peninsula makes for a compelling case-study in which Billy Colfer carefully knits the local story into a wider narrative. An eye for detail and an intuitive understanding of his local community creates a vivid story, while Colfer's obvious love for the Hook infuses the volume with an underlying passion all the more moving for being understated. Ireland, 'an island nation', has at last a volume informed by a maritime perspective from a writer who understands the sea and its formative influence on landscapes and lives. In these beautiful pages, an astonishing array of maps, photographs, paintings, archive sketches and new drawings ensure that the Hook landscape is given a radiant treatment."--BOOK JACKET.

Waterford harbour has centuries of tradition based on its extensive fishery and maritime trade. Steeped in history, customs and an enviable spirit, it was there that Andrew Doherty was born and raised amongst a treasure chest of stories spun by the fishermen, sailors and their families. As an adult he began to research these accounts and, to his surprise, found many were based on fact. In this book, Doherty will take you on a fascinating journey along the harbour, introduce you to some of its most important sites and people, the area's history, and some of its most fantastic tales. Dreaded press gangs who raided whole communities for crew, the search for buried gold and a ship seized by pirates, the horror of a German bombing of the rural idyll during the Second World War – on every page of this incredible account you will learn something of the maritime community of Waterford Harbour.

In the 1700s, Loftus Hall was a magnificent, awe invoking building which dominated the edge of the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford, Ireland. At the time, the Loftus estate was ruled by Charles Loftus Tottenham, who acquired immense power and wealth by marrying Anne Loftus. They had two daughters, Anne and Elizabeth. Charles focused on establishing his reputation and expanding the family name while Anne remained at home to raise their children. Tragedy strikes the heart of the family and as they put their lives back together, a monstrous storm crashes against the Hall and from it emerges a mysterious dark stranger. Welcomed into Loftus Hall, he creates a certain unease among the occupants. The youngest daughter, Anne, falls in love with the man, much to the dismay of her proud father. Discovering their relationship, Charles gives the visitor an ultimatum. However, after a traditional card game held in the mansion, a horrifying event takes place, and soon everyone realises the stranger was concealing his true evil identity. Having lost her love, Anne plunges deep into the realms of insanity. Charles loses his grasp on his power and wealth as a stagnant presence within the Hall creates turmoil and darkness. Swallowing his pride, he is forced to solicit help from the sole individual who may be capable of banishing the malevolence from Loftus Hall once and for all. This is the Legend of Loftus Hall which still survives in the area to this day.

"Billy Colfer's Wexford Castles expands the Irish Landscapes series by taking a thematic approach, while still staying loyal to the central landscape focus. Rather than adapting a narrowly architectural approach, he situates these buildings in a superbly reconstructed historical, social, and cultural milieu. County Wexford has three strikingly different regions - the Anglo-Norman south, the hybridised middle and the Gaelic north - which render it a remarkable version in parvo of the wider island. Colfer's wide-angle lens takes in so much than the castles themselves, as he ranges widely and deeply in reading these striking buildings as texts, revealing the cultural assumptions and historical circumstances which shaped them. In this most cosmopolitan of counties, we range far and wide in search of the wide-spreading roots of its cultural landscape - from the Crusades and the Mani peninsula in Greece to the Bristol Channel, from Crac des Chevaliers to Westminster, from the Viking north and the cold Atlantic to the warm Mediterranean south. The book breaks new ground in exploring the long-run cultural shadow cast by the Anglo-Normans and their castles, as this appears in the Gothic Revival, in the poetry of Yeats and in the surprisingly profuse crop of Wexford historians and writers. While most books on a single architectural form can end up visually monotonous, creativity has been lavished on this volume in terms of keeping the images varied, fresh and constantly appealing. The result is a sympathetic and innovative treatment of the castles, understood not just as a mere architectural form, but as keys to unlocking the mentalitae of those who lived in them. Wexford Castles: landscape, context and settlement is a worthy conclusion of Billy's Colfer's superb trilogy of landscape studies."--Publisher's website.

This breathtakingly exciting book discovers Ireland, county by county, as you've never seen it before!

"Ingenious Ireland is a unique study of this country's natural wonders, clever inventions and historic industries. Richly illustrated, meticulously researched and lucidly written, it brings the reader on a fascinating county-by-county tour of Ireland, with details of what to see and places to visit. Find out why half of Ireland really belongs to North America and why Connemara rain is so salty. Marvel at the natural wonders that surround you, among them the oldest fossil footprints in the Northern hemisphere, and the disappearing springs of Fore. Read about the advent of railways and modern timekeeping. Discover why the shamrock is a sham, and the Dublin Bay prawn is a fraud. Meet the ingenious Irish and wonder at the range of their inventions: from Milk of Magnesia to the hypodermic syringe; from the steam turbine to the ejector seat; from the modern tractor to the first guided missile. Mary Mulvihill's knowledge is encyclopaedic and her enthusiasm for unravelling the mysteries and marvels of Ireland irresistible. Dip into Ingenious Ireland and you may discover that history was made on your own doorstep."--Publisher's description

Ireland 2010. A garden designer with hope. A property developer with secrets. Will their love grow or will revenge make it wither? A page-turner seeded with mystery, romance and suspense.