posted 07-26-2001 12:02 AM            

They were built using varying materials such as brick, rammed earth, rough stone, semi and fully cut stone, tapia(lime concrete) and timber. Mainly, ofcourse, they were built with stone and I guess that's the sort of material you are interested in.

A good place to start would be books on stonemasonry, keeping in mind that they used lime mortar(not cement motar) when building castles.

"The Art of the Stonemason" by Ian Cramb is good, as well as
"Irish Stone Walls : History Building Conservation" by Patrick McAfee

Also, read past posts on this forum.

I find it difficult to get good information on some aspects of castle construction. No-one has yet produced a comprehensive book on the subject that I know of. Info from archaeological excavations can sometimes be useful.
Visiting castles, particularly ruined or part-ruined ones, can be very informative. So save up for a trip before saving up to start building. There are volunteer programs and courses run which allow you to work on castles and similar structures.
For example;
http://www.sabranenque.com/volunteer/volunteer.htm
http://ballytarsnacastle.homestead.com/