This book describes a variety of Irish country houses, with the emphasis on proprietors offering guest accommodation or public access. In each piece the stories of their families, of their houses and what they offer their visitors are combined with the writer's own response to the places and the landscape. As both 'The Hidden Ireland' and 'The Blue Book' make clear Ireland has many country house owners, with others in towns and cities, who have opened their doors to visitors in different ways, mostly providing bed and breakfast accommodation or self-catering rentals. Mary Leland has written about more than 800 houses and historic buildings over the past 17 years, hearing the narrative of ownership, inheritance and restoration from many people in many places. This selection of some of the most engaging or important properties, including several national heritage sites, provides a valuable reflection of the cultural and architectural aspects of sustained Irish ownership and hospitality.