The Rough Guide to Ireland (Travel Guide eBook)

Rough Guides

Description

The Rough Guide to Ireland

Make the most of your time on Earth with the ultimate travel guides.

Discover Ireland with this comprehensive and entertaining travel guide, packed with practical information and honest recommendations by our independent experts. Whether you plan to drive the scenic Wild Atlantic Way, explorie the delights of Dublin's architecture and dance along to traditional Irish music in one of the plethora of pubs in the country, Rough Guide Ireland will help you discover the best places to explore, eat, drink, shop and sleep along the way.

Features of this travel guide to Ireland:
- Detailed regional coverage: provides practical information for every kind of trip, from off-the-beaten-track adventures to chilled-out breaks in popular tourist areas
- Honest and independent reviews: written with Rough Guides' trademark blend of humour, honesty and expertise, our writers will help you make the most from your trip to Ireland
- Meticulous mapping: practical full-colour maps, with clearly numbered, colour-coded keys. Find your way around Dublin, Belfast and many more locations without needing to get online
- Fabulous full-colour photography: features inspirational colour photography, including the historic campus of Trinity College and Glendalough Scenic Park
- Time-saving itineraries: carefully planned routes will help inspire and inform your on-the-road experiences
- Things not to miss: Rough Guides' rundown of the best sights and top experiences to be found in Cork, Kerry and Sligo
- Travel tips and info: packed with essential pre-departure information including getting around, accommodation, food and drink, health, the media, festivals, sports and outdoor activities, culture and etiquette, shopping and more
- Background information: comprehensive 'Contexts' chapter provides fascinating insights into Ireland with coverage of history, religion, ethnic groups, environment, wildlife and books, plus a handy language section and glossary

- Covers: Dublin; Around Dublin: Wicklow, Kildare and Meath, Louth, Monaghan and Cavan, The Midlands: Westmeath, Longford, Offaly and Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow and Wexford, Waterford and Tipperary, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Clare, Galway and Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon, Donegal, Belfast, Antrim and Derry, Down and Armagh, Tyronne and Fermanagh

You may also be interested in: Rough Guide to Scotland

About Rough Guides: Rough Guides have been inspiring travellers for over 35 years, with over 30 million copies sold globally. Synonymous with practical travel tips, quality writing and a trustworthy 'tell it like it is' ethos, the Rough Guides list includes more than 260 travel guides to 120+ destinations, gift-books and phrasebooks.

Sujets

• Special Interest
• Points of Interest
• Museums
• Adventure (Guyana)
• Condado de Westmeath
• Condado de Longford
• Condado de Kerry
• Condado de Laois
• Condado de Carlow
• Condado de Offaly
• Condado de Kildare
• Condado de Wicklow
• Condado de Monaghan
• Dublín
• Interest group (disambiguation)
• Point of interest
• Louth
• County Offaly
• County Westmeath
• Meath
• Travel
• Ireland
• County Laois
• Museum
• Stephen Ireland
• Donegal
• Antrim
• Monaghan
• Adventure
• Longford
• Wexford
• Sligo
• Carlow
• Mayo
• Comté d'Offaly
• Kildare
• Comté de Meath
• Derry
• Comté de Westmeath
• Wicklow
• Cavan
• Cork
• Galway
• Kerry
• Belfast
• Kilkenny
• Tours
• Europe
• Dublin

Informations

• Publié par: Apa Publications
• Date de parution: 01 décembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781789197310
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 9 Mo

Extrait

Contents
Introduction to Ireland
W here to go
W hen to go
A uthor picks
t hings not to miss
I tineraries
Basics
G etting there
G etting around
A ccommodation
F ood and drink
T he media
F estivals and events
C ulture and etiquette
S ports
O utdoor activities
T ravel essentials
Dublin
T he Southside
T he Northside
W est of the centre
T he northern suburbs
S outh Dublin coast
Around Dublin: Wicklow, Kildare and Meath
T he Wicklow coast
T he Wicklow Mountains
C ounty Kildare
C ounty Meath
Louth, Monaghan and Cavan
D rogheda and around
T he Cooley Peninsula
M onaghan town
C ounty Monaghan
C avan town and around
W est Cavan
The Midlands: Westmeath, Longford, Offaly and Laois
M ullingar and around
C astlepollard and around
A thlone and around
C lonmacnois
B irr
S lieve Bloom
Kilkenny, Carlow and Wexford
K ilkenny city and around
S outhern Kilkenny
C arlow
W exford town
A round Wexford town
H ook Peninsula and the Barrow estuary
Waterford and Tipperary
W aterford city
W aterford’s coast
N orthern Waterford
T he lower Suir valley
C ashel
Cork
C ork city
E ast Cork
K insale and around
C lonakilty and around
S kibbereen
B altimore
C lear Island (Oileán Chléire)
T he Mizen Head Peninsula
T he Sheep’s Head
B antry
T he Beara Peninsula
Kerry
K illarney and around
T he Iveragh Peninsula: the Ring of Kerry
K enmare
S outh of Kenmare: the Beara Peninsula
T he Dingle Peninsula
N orth Kerry
Limerick and Clare
L imerick city and around
S outheast Clare
E nnis and around
E ast Clare
S outhwest Clare
W est Clare
T he Burren
Galway and Mayo
G alway city
E ast Galway
T he Aran Islands
C onnemara
C ounty Mayo
Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon
S ligo town
A round Sligo town
N orth Sligo
W est Sligo
S outh Sligo
C arrick-on-Shannon and around
B oyle and around
T he Arigna Mountains
S trokestown and around
Donegal
S outh Donegal
S outhwest Donegal
C entral Donegal
T he Dawros Head Peninsula and around
T he Rosses
G weedore and Tory Island
T he Derryveagh Mountains and Glenveagh
T he north Donegal coast
L etterkenny
T he Inishowen Peninsula
Belfast
T he city centre
S outh Belfast
E ast Belfast
N orth Belfast
W est Belfast
Antrim and Derry
N orth from Belfast
T he Glens of Antrim
T he north Antrim coast
N orthern County Derry
D erry
S outhern County Derry
Down and Armagh
H illsborough
E ast of Belfast
S trangford Lough
T he Lecale region
N ewcastle
T he Mourne Mountains
N ewry
S outh Armagh
A rmagh city and around
Tyrone and Fermanagh
O magh and around
T he Sperrin Mountains
E astern Tyrone
E nniskillen and around
L ough Erne
W estern Fermanagh
Contexts
H istory
T raditional music
L iterature
B ooks
T he Irish language
G lossary
Small print
M ap symbols
R ough Guide credits
P ublishing information
H elp us update
A bout the authors


Introduction to Ireland

Over the past three decades, Ireland has transformed itself with quiet determination. Gone – or certainly on its way out – is the image of a conservative, introspective, dourly rural nation, while the infamous unrest and violence of the Troubles has, mercifully, faded away. An outward-looking Ireland has stepped forward, energized by rejuvenated cities, where the fresh ideas introduced by immigrants and returnees during the Celtic Tiger years of the 1990s are maturing nicely. Of course, it’s not called the Emerald Isle for nothing and Ireland’s physical appeal endures clear and true as a jewel – but it’s by no means a blanket of green. From the Burren’s grey limestone pavement and the black peat bogs of the Midlands (where some of the prehistoric gold ornaments on show in Dublin’s National Museum were dug up) to Connemara’s gold- and purple-tinged mountains, Ireland’s smouldering – even unnerving – good looks can send a shiver down your spine. And when the sun is shining the sky throbs bluer than anywhere else on earth – or so the Irish would have you believe.
While Dublin, Belfast and the other cities are cranking up the cosmopolitan – from hipster coffee shops to edgy, internationally relevant arts scenes – their on-message worldliness is not the be all and end all: traditional culture is cherished by even the most city-slicking of the Irish. Moreover, as Northern Irish historian J. C. Beckett (1912–96) noted, his homeland “has no natural focal point, no great crossing-place of routes, no centre from which influence spreads naturally.” The lay of the land and the road network lend themselves to a democratic exploration, with each part of the country fair game, and you’re unlikely to feel swallowed up by the cities’ gravitational pull. In rural areas , switch modes to walking boots or two wheels (motorized or otherwise) and you’ll be in no great hurry to return to the urban sprawl, however vibrant.
In some areas public transport coverage fades to black, and you have no choice but to feel your way – the perfect opportunity to get to grips with Ireland’s rich textures. The west coast is famous for its long beaches and windswept cliffs with views of the western islands; the drama of the landscape here is awe-inspiring, not least to the surfers who flock to Donegal and Galway. In the east , outside Dublin, the crumpled granite of the Wicklow Hills sits in stark contrast to the lush central plain just a few kilometres away. Cross the border into Northern Ireland and it is a short journey through rolling hills – known locally as drumlins – to the spectacular coast road that leads to the geological wonder of the Giant’s Causeway .
Scattered across these landscapes is an abundance of  historic sites . The very earliest of these include enigmatic prehistoric tombs, stone circles and hill forts. It is possible to trace the history of successive waves of immigration, whether Christian pilgrims, Viking raiders or Norman settlers, through the stone churches, distinctive round towers and high crosses strewn across the landscape. Ireland’s monasteries were important centres of Christian learning during the Middle Ages, and the monks’ elaborate craftsmanship is preserved in surviving illuminated manuscripts, such as the Book of Kells , held at Dublin’s Trinity College. Doughty castles and tower houses record the twelfth-century Anglo-Norman invasion, while numerous stately homes from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries attest to the wealth and political power of the Protestant Ascendancy both north and south. A remarkable aspect of Ireland’s landscape is the tendency for physical features to have sacred associations – few counties do not shelter a pile of stones called “Diarmuid and Gráinne’s Bed”, where the star-crossed lovers are said to have slept together on their flight from the great warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill.




The rocky shore at Dunaff in County Donegal
Shutterstock




Inseparable from Ireland’s history is its cultural heritage, a happy coming together of millennia and myriad influences from home and abroad. Here you have the richest store of mythological traditions in northern Europe, folkloric associations at every turn and world-famous literature and poetry. But there are a couple of elements you’ll likely encounter in vivid form on a daily basis – particularly if you’re a pub-goer. First you have traditional music , with its ballads and sean-nós (“old-style” Irish-language singing) recounting tales of love, history and humour. Then there’s the craic , the talking therapy of Ireland’s pubs, a combination of unlikely yarns, surreal comedy and plain old chatter and gossip. Dublin , which has long enjoyed a reputation as a culturally rich city, remains the epicentre of artistic activity. The Republic’s capital is justifiably proud of its literary tradition, which takes in (among countless other luminaries) Oscar Wilde, Flann O’Brien and James Joyce, whose famously complex and experimental Finnegans Wake is – besides its many other triumphs – a worthy encapsulation of the sheer weightiness of Irish culture.
Ireland is rightly renowned for the welcome extended to visitors, and the tourist sector is, unsurprisingly, at the centre of its plans for lasting economic recovery. Northern Ireland and Belfast, in particular, have taken full advantage of the sudden influx of visitors previously deterred by the Troubles. What they will encounter is an Ireland where, finally, the past is significant for its cultural riches rather than the shadow it casts – and where the future is all about that big blue sky.


Fact file Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe. The landmass has a total area of 84