Clusters of white cottages huddled between hills of an unbelievably rich green, villages of a single street, dazzling in their array of colour washes and picturesque shop-fronts – such are the villages of Ireland, which to this day are living, working communities.

The most beautiful of these villages are captured here in Christopher Fitz-Simon’s sensitive commentaries and Hugh Palmer’s evocative photographs. This is a journey full of rural gems, some famous, others less so. Here are the coloured coastal villages of Cork, their vibrant houses sloping down to a sea that so many Irish people crossed to found other communities in America. Here too are the stunning medieval churches of Roscommon and Galway; and the villages of Antrim, standing ruggedly in defiance of the northern seas. The Most Beautiful Villages of Ireland is an unparalleled portrayal of the pastoral charms of the Emerald Isle.