Eating Guinness Cake. This is our personal guide to Ireland. Bill Giles was born and brought up in Ireland and now lives there for part of the year with his wife Sarah. As it is one of our travel guides, the book combines Ireland's famous places with our personal experiences. Our book explains the history, people and customs of Ireland not forgetting the food and drink. We look at all the main tourist sights in Ireland, and we cover both the Republic and Northern Ireland. We felt it was important to cover the province of Ulster because many important events in Irish history happened in this area. There is also very little available as a guide for Ulster because of the recent political troubles. For you to enjoy the magic of Ireland you need to plan where you are going, so that when you get there you will gain most enjoyment in slowing down to Ireland's relaxed pace of life. The best things in our opinion are the views, the people, the pubs and the food. This travel guide will help you make the informed decisions which will give you the trip of a lifetime. As with all of our travel guides we are writing about a place we know well and spend a lot of time in. We combine Ireland's famous places with our personal anecdotes so you can learn about Ireland in an easily accessible way. Contents, Introduction Chapter 1 The Irish Chapter 2 Getting there Chapter 3 The North Belfast County Down County Armagh County Antrim County Fermanagh County Tyrone County Londonderry Chapter 4 County Donegal and the West. Donegal Town Ardara The Gaeltacht Sligo and the way South. Achill Island Croagh Patrick Knock County Mayo Connemara Galway County Clare Chapter 5 The South County Kerry Cork The Blarney Stone Kinsale Waterford Dublin area Powerscourt Castle and gardens Chapter 6 Dublin Chapter 7 The Pubs and Holidays Chapter 8 The food Chapter 9 Buying a house in Donegal Conclusion Ireland Key Facts A brief history of Ireland