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Welcome to Ireland
Ireland is divided in a number of ways, two of which will be of interest to visitors. The island of Ireland is divided into the historical division of four provinces (Connaught, Leinster, Munster and Ulster) and the political division of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland comprises six of the nine counties of Ulster - Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. The three counties of Ulster that remain in the Irish Republic are Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan.
Maps of Ireland show the counties that make up these provinces, but other county names will occasionally appear that are not on these maps. These other counties are usually administrative districts within the traditional counties. For example, Fingal County is one of four administrative districts within Dublin County.
The province of Connaught is in Ireland's northwestern corner. Leinster is in the southeastern quadrant. Munster is in the southwest and Ulster is in the northeast. Click on one of the preceding links for information about a province and related links.
Tourism Web Sites: The Shamrock.org web site provides links to the Irish Tourist Board and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and is an excellent resource to begin travel planning for a trip to Ireland. This site also has a very useful map of Ireland showing the counties and major cities and towns. The Irish Tourist Board - Board Fáilte maintains the primary web site for visitors to the Republic. The British Tourist Authority web site also has information for visitors to Northern Ireland. Island Ireland is one of the best resources on the Internet to learn something of Irish history, art, culture, architecture and the environment.
The Heritage Data, Heritage Towns of Ireland (good county map), Heritage of Ireland, Irish Culture and Customs and the Irish Organization for Geographical Information web sites are excellent resources for discovering places of historical and cultural interest in the Republic of Ireland. The BBC History also has articles related to the history of Ireland.
The World Heritage Centre of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has a list of heritage sites including sites in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
There are many local and regional web sites listed on these pages for Ireland with information about Irish genealogy. The Irish Family History Foundation offers a very good starting point for people wishing to trace their Irish roots.
Other all-Ireland sites include the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland and the Irish Railways and Transportation Foundation.
The Northwest Passage is a touring route that extends from Dublin to County Donegal in the northwest of Ireland, passing through some of Ireland's most scenic and historic areas.
The Irish Government and the Irish Embassy in Washington, DC have an extensive amount of information and links on their web sites, much of which will be of interest to many travelers planning a visit to Ireland. An Post is the National Postal Service in the Republic and offers a number of services that could be of interest to visitors.
RTÉ Online is the web site Irish Radio and Television, the national broadcasting service of the Irish Republic. It is an excellent source for the latest news on a wide variety of subjects
The Irish Architecture On Line web site is an excellent resource for visitors with an interest in the history of architecture in Ireland and some of the important buildings to be explored.
Nicolas Janberg's Structurae web site has architectural data regarding many important buildings and other structures in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as links to other sites with related information.
Many of the links on our UK and Ireland links page connect to web sites that also have information about Ireland.
Transportation: For information about airports, railways, buses and ferries that serve Ireland, go to their respective pages. The Cruise Ireland web site has information about cruise ships that call at Ireland and the ports that serve them.
Route Planning: Go to the Automobile Association (AA) and RAC Ireland web sites for driving directions and route planning by road. Both sites also offer information on traffic conditions. For route planning by rail or bus go to the Irish Rail web site. See also the Route Planning and Maps page for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Maps: The Irish Tourist Board has a useful interactive map of the Republic of Ireland on its web site. Ordnance Survey Ireland is the official mapping source of the Republic. The Northern Ireland Tourist Board has very useful maps of Belfast and Northern Island on its web site. Ireland's History in Maps has a collection of maps related to events in Irish history through the famine in the mid-19th Century. See also the Route Planning and Maps page for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Newspapers: The Irish Times and the Irish Independent are published in Dublin and have national status in the Republic. The Belfast Telegraph is Northern Ireland's national newspaper. Many of the links to local and regional web sites on these pages have links to their local newspapers. Visitors are encouraged to read the on-line editions of these papers prior to a visit to be informed of current events and conditions.
The Irish Youth Hostel Association provides low-cost accommodations and is a very good service for visitors traveling on a budget.
For information about airports, railways, and ferry services in Ireland, go to the appropriate page.
Visit the Country Reports site for a large variety of particulars regarding the Republic of Ireland.
Recommended Reading: The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham Smith has for many years been the classic and enlightening study of the Irish potato famine in mid-19th Century. The Great Irish Potato Famine by James S. Donnelly, Jr. is a new history of this major event in Irish history that seeks to determine the causes of the famine and the roles played by the people involved. Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe tells the story of Irish monks and scribes maintaining the record of Western civilization by copying Greek and Latin manuscripts when libraries and learning on the continent were lost.
Giudes: The Blue Guide to Dublin; the Blue Guide to Ireland; Eyewitness Travel Guide - Dublin Φ Ireland; Let's Go - Ireland; Lonely Planet - Ireland; Rough Guides - Ireland Φ Irish Music ΦDublin