New Rough Guide to Ireland
Irish Food and Music, Budget Hotels, Best Restaurants and Sights
Rough Guides are amongst the best and most popular guidebooks. The new guide to Ireland has over 700 pages and is one of the best and most comprehensive books around
When trying to choose which is going to be the best guidebook to buy, on Ireland or anywhere else, always check out the author's credentials. Is it written by someone who knows the destination, or someone who lives on the other side of the world? The latest edition of the Rough Guide to Ireland, all 700 pages of it, passes that test with flying colors.
The two authors of the Rough Guide to Ireland are Paul Gray and Geoff Wallis. Paul Gray lived in Dublin till 2004 and also co-wrote the Rough Guides' Dublin Directions guide, the Rough Guide to Thailand and part of the Rough Guide to England. Geoff Wallis knows Ireland inside-out, being the author of the Rough Guide to Irish Music, co-author of Dublin Directions and author of the Rough Guide to Family Fun in Ireland. You might therefore expect the Irish music sections of the latest Rough Guide to Ireland to be on the ball.
A 5-page essay on traditional Irish music at the back of the book makes sure you can tell your accordion from your concertina, and explains that the bouzouki was only introduced to Irish music from Greece as recently as the 1960s. The best music pubs are listed for Irish musical hotspots like Killarney, Dublin and Belfast too.
The Rough Guide to Ireland covers both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the political situation is thoroughly dealt with in almost twenty pages of History in the Contexts section at the back of the book. Here you'll also find three pages on the Irish language, with some help on pronunciation which you'll need if you ever tried to pronounce Dun Laoghaire without the help of a safety net. If you're especially interested in the Irish language, and the country's culture, you should also get a copy of Lonely Planet's Irish Language and Culture guide – click here to see my review. There are also two full-color illustrated essays in the Rough Guide to Ireland, one on Irish Food and Drink, the other on Festive Ireland.
How does the Rough Guide to Ireland score on vital advice, like hotels and restaurants? Excellent, with a whole range covered. In Dublin there's everything from the classy Fitzwilliam, the Clarence (owned by U2) and St Stephen's Green, down to budget city-centre hotels, b&bs and guesthouses, and hostels and campsites too. Belfast restaurants go from the Michelin-starred Restaurant Michael Deane, Paul Rankin's temples Cayenne and Roscoff and the fabulous Nick's Warehouse right down to cheap cafes, delis and internet cafes where you can grab a sandwich while you surf.
If you're only going to Dublin, say, then buy a Dublin specific guide like the Rough Guides' Dublin Directions or the Lonely Planet City Guide to Dublin. But if you plan a longer vacation that explores some of the rest of Ireland, from the Antrim Coast down to Cork and the gorgeous southwest of Ireland, then the Rough Guide to Ireland is yer man.
The Rough Guide to Ireland is published by Rough Guides at £13.99 in the UK, $30.99 in Canada and $21.99 in the USA.
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