Life in an Irish Country House

Rating:
Summary: painfully dry
Review: I found this book dull. It's a series of vignettes of daily life, providing a limited amount of general background about the families and houses but typically focusing on a particular generation. You can see how this had the potential to be extremely interesting, but I really can't make sense of the author's choice of stories and the writing style is unengaging to say the least.

Since the official description provided above does not tell you which houses are described, I will. They are:

Adare Manor, County Limerick; Ardfert Abbey, County Kerry; Ardfry, County Galway; Ballyfin, County Leix; Barmeath Castle, County Louth; Carton, County Kildare; Castle Forbes, County Longford; Castle Leslie (or Glaslough), County Monaghan; Coole Park, County Galway; Curragh Chase, County Limerick; Drishane, County Cork; Edgeworthstown, County Longford; Grey Abbey, County Down; Gurteen Le Poer, County Waterford; Kilfane, County Kilkenny; Lismore Castle, County Waterford; Lissadell, County Sligo; Mitchelstown Castle, County Cork; Mount Stewart, County Down; Newtown Anner, County Tipperary; Rockingham, County Roscommon; Springhill, County Derry; and Tullynally Castle (formerly Pakenham Hall), County Westmeath.