The Big House has been an element of tragedy in the course of Ireland's history and it is considered such by contemporary novelists such as Aidan Higgins and Jennifer Johnson. It has been the crucible in which two civilizations failed to melt and yet became inseparably bound together." from the Introduction by Guy Fehlmann. Contents: Introduction An Historical Survey, Guy Fehlmann; The Big House in Western Ireland, Breand-n MacAodha; "Cast a Cold Eye": A Sociological Approach, Joy Rudd; Distribution, Function and Architecture, Breand-n MacAodha; The Beginnings of Big House Fiction; Maria Edgeworth: Castle Rackrent, Bernard Legros; Irish Homes in the Work of C.R. Maturin, Claude Fi robe; Historical Glimpses: John Banim, Bernard Escarbelt; Gerald Griffin, Michel Flot; Le Fanu's Houses, Jean Lozes; The Golden Age; George Moore's Big House Novel: A Drama in Muslin, Jean No l; Joyce Cary: Castle Corner, A Big House Novel?, Jacques Emprin; Interior and Exterior: The Big House and the Irish Landscape in the Work of Elizabeth Bowen, Gear id Cronin; Elizabeth Bowen's A World of Love, Josette Leray; The Big House in Se-n O'Faol-in's Fiction, Denis Sampson; Molly Keane, Maurice Elliot; Jennifer Johnston, Mark Mortimer; John Banville and the Subversion of the Big House Novel, Gear id Cronin; A View from Outside; A Shadowless Castle of Treasures: Kinalty Castle in Henry Green's Loving, Fiona MacPhail; Major and Majestic: J.G. Farrell's Troubles, Fiona MacPhail; Through the Poets' Eyes; Yeats and the Big Houses, Jacqueline Genet; The "Big House" by Paul Muldoon: The Approach of the Satirist, Dominique Gauthier; The Image of the Big House in the Poetry of Derek Mahon and Tom Paulin, Caroline MacDonough.