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IRELAND
Ireland is situated to the west of Great Britain, from which it is separated at distances ranging from 18-193km (11-120 miles). It is located in the temperate zone between latitude 510 30' and 550 30' N, and longitude 60 00' and 100 30' W, as far north as Labrador or British Columbia in Canada, and as far west as Portugal, or the West African state of Liberia. The greatest distance from north to south of the island is 486km (302 miles) and from east to west it is 275km (171 miles).
Ireland is divided into four traditional provinces and 32 counties which are divided as follows:
Leinster Carlow Dublin Kildare Kilkenny Laois Louth Longford Meath Offaly Westmeath Wexford Wicklow |
Munster Clare Cork Kerry Waterford Limerick Tipperary |
Connaught Galway Leitrim Mayo Roscommon Sligo |
Ulster Antrim Armagh Cavan Derry Donegal Down Fermanagh Monaghan Tyrone |
Generally, Ireland would not be known for 'sunshine holidays'.
Average summertime temperatures usually range from 150C and can reach the high
20s but only rarely. Catching the sun can be very haphazard as we have seen snow
some years up to the end of April, and in other years, we have been scorched in April/May.
Some summers start off very promising early on, only to become cold and wet from
June onwards. However, even on overcast days, the scenery is breathtaking and in wet
weather, there is always something to do. Ireland has been experiencing something of a
makeover during the past few years, and there are shopping malls, leisure centres, night
clubs etc springing up in almost every city and major town. Our public transport
system has seen major changes as well, with improvements to the rail systems and new
modern coaches on the intercity bus routes. Presently, in all areas, plans are being
implemented to improve the city bus services as well. Many of the historic sites
around Ireland can now boast heritage centres. Many of these centres offer guided tours
and detailed information about the sites and their surrounding areas. Most of
these centres also have souvenier shops and snack bars. In these pages I will
attempt to link each county to a page offering some information about the tourist trails
in that county.
At present, there are very few files to view. However, please consider this as a
sample of upcoming pages. As files are prepared, the county name above will appear as a
link. Index to tourist trails in that county will then appear in the left frame.
Photo's will be included at a later date.