Book Review: Terence Dooley interrogates the burning of Ireland's 'Big Houses' in latest book

Already renowned for his studies of the big houses and estates of Ireland, Dooley is able to offer a cumulative context of motives examined with an eye steadied by a solid foundation of research and archival diligence

Hilton Park House in Co Monaghan: JCW Madden of Hilton Park trained every man on the estate in rifle practice to prevent the destruction of the property.

• Burning The Big House: The Story of the Irish Country House in a Time of War and Revolution
• Terence Dooley
• Yale University Press
• €31.50, dubraybooks.ie