In this work, the Wall family — originally of Anglo-Norman stock — is traced from a fief in Normandy through England and South Wales to Ireland. One of the first knightly families to occupy Irish lands after the Norman invasion of 1170, their history is followed, generation by generation, through the succeeding eight centuries.

Hubert Gallwey’s scholarship is impeccable. Educated at Ampleforth and Christ Church College, Oxford, where he read modern history, he subsequently joined the British Army. He was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1937, served during the Second World War and eventually retired from the army in 1959 with the rank of Lieutenant – Colonel.