The essays in this volume are devoted to the art and architecture of Munster, one of the four ancient provinces of Ireland. A major theme underpinning many of the essays is the degree to which Irish craftsmen and builders engaged with the rest of Europe, and the nature of their relationship with English practice. The extent to which the advent of Gothic was a colonial phenomenon, an inevitable consequence of the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland after 1170, is likewise considered, so too the extent to which Ireland developed its own identity in architecture and sculpture in the later middle ages. While travellers from abroad regarded Ireland as one of the most remote regions of the western world, situated at the end of the earth, these essays make it clear that the province of Munster was still very much an integral part of Christian Europe.

The early middle ages were an exciting period in the history of European architecture, culminating in the development of the Romanesque style. Major architectural innovations were made during this time including the castle, the church spire, and the monastic cloister. This lucidly-written book expands upon key themes and issues to provide a fresh and radically new approach to the architecture of the period.

Professor Stalley began to explore Ireland's rich legacy of medieval art in 1969, at a time when it was little known by students abroad. From the start his principal aim was to discover how Irish art fitted into its European context, an aim which led to a series of important comparative studies on major European monuments, both Romanesque and Gothic. Having begun his career as a historian, the author has been concerned with the social and political implications of medieval art, particularly the effect of the racial divisions that existed in medieval Ireland. He has written about Irish cathedrals, as well as the buildings of the Cistercian monks and Franciscan friars. He has also investigated the royal programme of castle building in the thirteenth century. Other essays in this volume include a fascinating account of the repercussions of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, as well as a consideration of the influence of Viking styles on Hiberno-Romanesque sculpture. In recent years Professor Stalley has turned his attention to the high crosses, writing with authority on the iconography of these complex monuments. The opening essay in the volume is devoted to the patronage of Henry I's justiciar, Bishop Roger of Salisbury, whose cathedral at Sarum was destined to influence the course of Irish Romanesque.