Back in 1842, a German traveller wrote “Ireland is the country for ruins.” Since then, little has changed, except that the number of ruins has increased, many of them being once-great country houses. Join Robert O’Byrne as he tells the stories— sometimes poignant, sometimes humorous—behind a number of these buildings, their rise to glory, and eventual fall into dereliction.

Robert O’Byrne is a writer and lecturer specializing in the fine and decorative arts and the author of more than a dozen books. A former vice president of the Irish Georgian Society, he is currently a trustee of a number of charitable organizations, including the Apollo Foundation and the Artists Collecting Society. For 14 years he wrote a monthly column for Apollo magazine; he has also contributed to The Burlington Magazine and the Irish Arts Review. Since 2012 he has written an award-winning blog, www.theirishaesthete.com; he produced a collection of his own photographs: The Irish Aesthete: Buildings of Ireland, Lost and Found. His most recent book is The Irish Country House: A New Vision, published by Rizzoli in 2024.