Ireland (General)

Political

The island of Ireland, situated in northwest Europe is the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth largest in the world. Ireland has two distinct jurisdictions, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Republic occupies approximately five sixths the land area while the North as it is commonly called occupies the remainder in the northeast of the country. The Republic is a sovereign state while Northern Ireland forms part of the United Kingdom. Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland while Belfast is the main city of Northern Ireland. The country is divided into four distinct provinces Ulster, Connacht, Munster and Leinster. Northern Ireland comprises six of the nine counties of Ulster with the other three counties of Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan being part of the Republic. Leinster is in the east of the country and comprises twelve counties with Dublin being the main city. Munster in the south comprises six counties with the largest city being Cork. Connacht in the west comprises five counties with Galway being the major city. The population of Ireland is approximately six million, 4.3 million in the Republic and 1.7 million in Northern Ireland. Greater Dublin has a population of 1.7 million while greater Belfast has a population of about 0.58 million. More information on the Republic of Ireland Click here. More information about Northern Ireland Click here.

Physical

The country generally has low coastal mountains surrounding central plains. The highest mountain, Carrauntoohill at 1,041m (3,414ft) is in County Kerry in the south-west of the country but is considerably lower than some other European mountains. The Shannon is the longest river in Ireland being 384km (240 miles) long but is rather sluggish as it runs down the central plain. With plenty of rainfall and fertile soils Ireland has large areas of very productive farmland with the less productive areas being in the west. Beef and dairy farming are the main agricultural occupations but some arable crops are grown in the east and aouth-east of the country. More information Click here.

Climate

Ireland has a maritime temperate climate so it generally doesn't get too cold in the winter nor too hot in the summer with the inland areas having the greater temperature variation. The average day-time temperature might be 6 °C (43 °F) in winter and 18 °C (65 °F) in the summer. Frost affects inland areas more than coastal area but are never severe. Snow does occur but falls are generally light with northern areas being more affected. Some years large areas of the country have very little or no snow at all. Rainfall is higher in the west than the east as the prevailing wind is from the south-west blowing in from the Atlantic ocean. Galway in the west has on average 1147mm (45in) of rain per annum while Dublin in the east has about 762mm (29.5in) of rainfall. Rainfall is fairly well distributed throughout the year with the spring possibly being the drier season. Storms, blown in from the Atlantic, occur more frequently from autumn to early spring with western areas being most affected. More information Click here.

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Tourism in Ireland

Ireland offers the visitor a wide range of vacation activities from the vibrant atomsphere of Dublin to the scenic areas of the west and the islands. A good starting point is to visit the Discover Ireland website Click here. Other resources might be the DiscoverIreland.ie website Click here or for visitors to Northern Ireland the DiscoverNorthernIreland website Click here. Some useful travel tips for visitors to Ireland can be viewed here. Visitors to the Dublin area have a wide range of places to see and activities to consider. Websites to check out include Visit Dublin and DublinTourist.com , and The Dublin Tourist Infomation. Visitors to the southwest of the country can enjoy spectacular scenery in Cork and Kerry. Check out the Cork Kerry or The Ring of Kerry websites. The west of Ireland again offers magnificent scenery from the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare through to Galway City, the Aran Islands and Connemara. Useful websites might include Ireland West or Clare Tourist Council. The northwest of the country takes in the counties of Sligo (Yeats country), Leitrim and Donegal. Again all three counties have magnificent scenery. Check out the Ireland Northwest website here.

Driving in Ireland

In Ireland we drive on the left hand side of the road with all vehicles being right hand drive. The quality of the roads has improved in recent years but are still inferior to that of some countries such as the US. Roads in Ireland tend to be narrow, bumpy and may be winding with blind curves. While the major roads are of good quality, the country still has plenty of twisting country lanes. Driving on these scenic routes can be a pleasure, but do not expect to get to your destination in record time as you could find yourself behind slow moving farm machinery or a herd of animals. For practical info on driving in Ireland Click here.

Best time to visit

The best time to visit is July or August when the days are long and you can expect reasonably warm weather. There is usually a good selection of festivals but as this is the peak season prices will be higher and queues will be longer. Spring and Autumn can also be good times as crowds are smaller and accommodation bargains can be had. Winter can be cold, windy and rainy with short days but pubs can be welcoming with some having lively entertainment for the long winter evenings. A lot of restaurants and B&Bs close down around October and don't reopen until Easter. Pre-trip planning this time of the year will pay off.

Visa Information

Citizens of certain countries require an entry visa for Ireland. For more information on visa requirements for Ireland Click here.

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Language

Ireland was a Gaelic speaking country until the 16th century but since then the language has been in decline. The Republic of Ireland is officially a bilingual country with a knowledge of Irish being required for University and the public sector. However, only 11 per cent of the population can speak Irish fluently where-as everyone can speak English.