Tales of Irish Castles - Season 1
1 - Norman Castles
Air Date: June 22, 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
Air Date: June 29, 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
Air Date: July 6, 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
Air Date: July 13, 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
Air Date: July 20, 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
Air Date: July 27, 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.