Beautifully illustrated with 180 photographs, readers are taken on an enthralling tour of the 'lesser-known corners' of the 'enchanting island' - where they'll see stranded shipwrecks, a magical stone supposed to give 'great eloquence', a ruined castle with a 'murder window', and more.

A warm, unsentimental and beautifully-observed book for our times' Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days 'If I were in bother I'd want the Ballybrady bunch at my back.However, Ireland always has the capacity to reinvent itself, with parts of the country being rediscovered for their heritage and stunning scenery, and built-up areas getting surprising new leases of life. These busy years faded with the austerity of war, and the property gradually declined and was sold to the State, which failed to care adequately for the house. It was thought it would never be filled, but it quickly became overcrowded, and several extensions were added throughout the years to keep up with demand.

Currently she’s on a mission to try and photograph Millbrook House, a 9,000sq ft decaying mansion built in 1885 in Co Laois, before renovations start.We all pass by properties everyday that eventually we overlook but have wondered about, this book tells some of those buildings stories. Merrion Press have done a fantastic job with putting this all together and making the final book possible, no detail has been left out and I wish to thank them for that.

LACKEEN CASTLE, COUNTY TIPPERARY: Connolly says: 'When this medieval tower house was rebuilt in the 16th century, the Stowe Missal was found, an illuminated mass book dating from seven centuries earlier. Princess Margaret has even been recorded visiting the house and having lunch there while on a tour of Northern Ireland.

When Grace saves his life in a kayaking accident - if it was an accident - and Evan's troubled son arrives to stay, all three are drawn together in a way that forces a reckoning with their personal traumas and draws them back into society. The text in this book is frequently short on detail: the properties’ locations are seldom pinpointed, one assumes for reasons of security. Pianos are also a frequent sight in these buildings; the art of playing your own music has also died out with the Singers. It’s the fragility and uncertain future for forgotten buildings like these that lies at the heart of Brownlie’s desire to capture their images and tell their stories; something she has been doing for years on her popular Facebook page, with its 45,000-strong following, and now in a new photography book, Abandoned Ireland. It was while peeling back the layers of this house and photographing its state of raw dereliction that I found I was more interested in the history of these buildings and people who lived in them than the paranormal.

There was no one else in the corridor or building but us, and I get to the end door, open it and we both heard a voice that sounds like it’s beside us. The house was being demolished for a new build and I had been asked to document it as it was before this work started. I believe this is a real niche idea to document abandoned properties and being local to many of them makes it all the more interesting. The asylum had a reputation for cruelty and inhuman treatment of its inmates, many of whom were kept in padded cells in solitary confinement for much longer than was needed. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.People are always asking me if I’ve ever had any paranormal experiences in the buildings I photograph. An ancient island with a romantic history and lush green landscape, Ireland’s culture stretches back to the time of St Patrick and the first Christian monks and includes the Norman invasion, clan wars, mass emigration and partition in the early. Bursting with engaging and often surprising details, each haunting photograph is an invitation to immerse yourself in history, and an Ireland long gone. The photographer has a way of capturing the fragments of the past lives that inhabitated these properties that is both captivating and heartbreaking! As I walk through the workhouse, I can see things that still remain: old worn-out shoes and a fireguard still in place in the children’s nursery.