The Rough Guide to Ireland

Don't be put off by some of the less-than-glowing reviews of the Rough Guide to Ireland, for this, the sixth edition, remains without question the best in a long line of books geared to the Eire-bound traveler. Yours truly has traveled to Ireland for eight of the past nine years, and the Rough Guide has been a consistent and consistently helpful travel companion. The recently updated (May 2001) sixth edition is a candid and comprehensive guide, as it covers all the well-known and little-known aspects of the Irish landscape. What distinguishes the Rough Guide from Fodor's, Frommer's, Let's Go, Lonely Planet, et al., is its writing: frank, literate, hard-to-put-down. This reader has all of the aforementioned guides to Ireland (and more), and it's the Rough Guide that receives the overwhelming bulk of my attention. It's the one guide that I turn to again and again, and the one guide that accompanies me to Ireland. Beyond it's highly literate style, the Rough Guide is particularly strong in the areas of Irish history, and its relationship to the sites that dot the Irish landscape. In recent years the Rough Guide has increased its emphasis on dining and lodging options (this guide is no longer content with hostels as the only way to go). Indeed, the Rough Guide now caters to a broader geographic. In other words, it's not only for those who want to "rough it." Another noteworthy improvement in recent years is the Rough Guide's expanded index, and, even more noteworthy, is its "Contexts" section, which is a wonderful, most informative 75-page section devoted to numerous things Irish: history, wildlife, books, movies, architecture, and more. The contexts section, come to think of it, may alone be worth the publisher's asking price. As for maps, however, this is one of the Rough Guide's shortcomings. While there are more than 40 (and they are clear and helpful), this dedicated reader would like to see more of a particular region. Three pages of maps for all County Donegal, for example, doesn't do justice to a chapter that runs 45 pages. In the future, it would be helpful to have more detailed maps of, say, southwest Donegal, western Donegal, and the like.Minor criticisms aside, the Rough Guide's sixth edition is a must-have for the serious traveler to the Emerald Isle. While not nearly as slick as some other guides (i.e., Eyewitness), its depth of subject and highly literate style more than compensates. Perhaps it's the ideal guide for the traveler who intends to return to Ireland again and again.