About this season
Actor Simon Delaney explores the great stories and characters associated with the most beautiful, notorious and historical castles built across Ireland.
Episodes (6)
1. Norman Castles
5.0Aired 22 June 2014
Simon Delaney celebrates the stunning citadels of Eire. The Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century led to the mass-building of castles across the isle.
2. Don’t Mess with a Knight
5.0Aired 29 June 2014
What have the Normans ever done for us? Simon Delaney salutes the Norman knights who led a castle building spree in Eire during the 13th and 14th centuries.
3. The Fightback
5.0Aired 6 July 2014
An educational journey around Ireland's fortresses. As Irish clans resisted Anglo-Norman settlers in the 1400s and 1500s, a new type of castle emerged: the tower house.
4. A Century Of Turmoil
5.0Aired 13 July 2014
Simon Delaney takes viewers to the castles - from Limerick to Kilkenny - that played integral roles in the bloodiest period of Irish history: the 17th century.
5. A Taste for Gothic
5.0Aired 20 July 2014
With the advent of the cannon in the 18th and 19th centuries, castles such as Tullynally morphed from military strongholds into lordly family homes.
6. End of Empire
5.0Aired 27 July 2014
As political and social unrest swept Ireland in the 20th century, debt-ridden castles fell into disrepair and into the hands of the nouveau riche.