People are happy to see you and are often worth the trip itself!  Donegal Town is a small place, a mix of medieval and modern buildings, with ancient Donegal Castle on the River Eske overlooking its citizenry. 

Looking to fill your soul?  Ten miles east of town, St. Patrick spent 40 days and nights fasting in a secluded cavern—it’s still revered as a place of pilgrimage. Southern Donegal Bay pulls you to Ballyshannon, a charming 15th century town.  Go to the Abbey, and discover the ruins of a 12th century abbey and a rough-hewn grotto.  Mass was celebrated here for two centuries when Catholic rituals we illegal.  Feel this place—more food for your soul.

Artists, unique crafts and music thrive in wild Donegal. The finest hand-woven tweeds and clothing have been produced here for 200 years.  Come watch the weavers make beauty. 
Excellent beaches and water sports, seaport towns, folk museums and craft centers, horseback riding and golf await you.  Explore your heart and challenge your body in this hidden treasure of Ireland.

You may spend half your time happily lost in Donegal.  As Jim Bridger, American adventurer, said, “I wasn’t lost.  I just didn’t know where I was for a few weeks.”  From the coast to lush, secret valleys, open yourself to the power of possibilities!

Newgrange is Ireland’s most famous prehistoric monument.  It was built 500 years before the Pyramids, and it predates Stonehenge by 1,000 years.  20,000 tons of stone were dragged from the Wicklow Mountains, south of Dublin, to build it. Newgrange is retained by an astonishing wall of blinding-light quartzite stones.  Under a large mound, 280 feet in diameter and 36 feet high, a passage leads to a burial chamber 20 feet high.

Entering the Newgrange cairn, you descend 62 feet into its very core, a central vaulted chamber. Not amazing enough?  Hold on…  Newgrange is an extraordinary Neolithic tomb, but it is also one of the oldest celestial markers in the world.

Every winter solstice, the sun climbs over the horizon and illuminates the inner chamber for 17 minutes—quite a profound experience.  Tours of the inner stone chamber, with its intricately carved stones, re-create the sun streaming through a narrow roof box, just as it does on December 21.

Its ancient name, Bru na Bóinne, tells us what this place meant to the people who created it.  Bru is an abode, and this was first the abode of Dagda—the god who was “good for everything.”  (Plus, it has remained waterproof for 5,000 years. Quite an accomplishment in Ireland!)

Knowth is just one mile NW.  Occupied continuously from Neolithic times until 1,400 AD, it has the largest concentration of megalithic art in Europe.

It is said that autumn is the time that those people, long gone, long sleeping, peek into this world. Then they roll over and go back to sleep, assured that life continues to renew itself

Dublin’s heartbeat pulses down its streets and alleys. It flows down the River Liffey and runs into the sea at Dublin Bay. Embraced on one side by soft hills and on the other by a tempestuous sea, there may be no finer time to enjoy Dublin than in the autumn.

Like all interesting people, Dublin has a mysterious past. Her Celtic founders, farmers and fishermen, built megaliths older than the pyramids on the outskirts of their community. These places still await you.

As for the present, Dublin was voted the friendliest city in Europe. (London? Paris? Lay those notions aside and roll with the flow of Dublin’s unique energy.) Leaves flutter through the Temple Bar area, past vibrant theatres and dazzling pubs. They circle the ankles of street performers, gathering in doorways of pubs filled with music. And elegant Grafton Street? Allow yourself to wander.

Very quiet now, in the cool evening, you may hear the lyrical voices of Dublin’s literary children: Nobel laureates William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett. Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stoker. James Joyce.

Looking for a taste of ancient magic? Dublin is a focal point of Celtic art and wisdom. Stop and see the Book of Kells at Trinity College, and don’t forget the Beatty Library. With a collection of rare books and intriguing art that’s more than 4,000 years old, a flight of fancy is limited only by your imagination.

There has never been a better time to visit Dublin than this autumn. Come to the city with a heartbeat as familiar as your own.

Some interesting and amusing info on Dublin:

http://hsavas.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/rain/

http://fireglo.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/dublin-dublin-dublin/

http://jamesburns.net/2008/08/22/dublin-ireland-august-22nd/

http://jamesburns.net/2008/08/24/dublin-ireland-august-24th/

http://daniktheexplorer.wordpress.com/europe/dublin/

http://fotosf.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/dublin-ireland/

Unlike other countries where there are 4 clearly defined seasons where Summers are guaranteed to be hot and winters cold, weather in ireland is totally unpredicatble.
I can remember Christmas day in ireland being warmer and drier than June 21st one particular year while the next year June had a heatwave and we had a White Christmas( a rare occurance in Ireland)

In general Summers in Ireland are warmer than Winters but with that warmth can come a lot of rain.

Ireland sits between Lattitude 51.45N and 55.37N (Mizen head and Malin head) giving us a temperate maritime climate which is modified by the North Atlantic current (otrherwise known as the Gulf stream)

This results in weather patterns devoid of extremes of temperature. Average wintertemperatures are well above freezing point while average summer temperatures are below 27 degrees (80 Fahrenheit). However without the Gulf Stream, Ireland’s average January temperature would be around 15ºC cooler than today and that would be below freezing point. Any shift in the Gulf stream would have a direct and significant impact on Ireland’s weather. It would probably result in greater demakation of the seasons but would lead to much higher heating bills!

In summer the weather is a lottery.

There is normally an area of high pressure to the north and one to the south with anti-cyclones moving eastward in the area in between. These areas of low pressure bring lots of rain fronts. Some years Ireland falls within teh northern High pressure and we get hot summers and some years we are directly in the jetstream in between and get millions of gallons of rain dumped on us in July and August. 2006 is a great example of the former while 2007, one of the wettest summers on record is an example of the latter.

Ireland: The best destination in the world when the sun shines, don’t let the variability put you off. See my Ireland travel tips to make the most of it.

Festivals to see on your Ireland vacation in 2008

• Cork Week - 12 to 19 July
  Cork Week, Ireland’s largest international sailing regatta and is held in July every two years.
  
• Galway Races - 28 July to 3rd August
  Annual 7 day world renowned horsing racing festival will attract some 200,000 race-goers to the Ballybrit venue over the course of the event.
  
• The Dublin Horse Show - 06 to 10 August
  The Dublin Horse Show will take over the entire Royal-Dublin-Society complex in the heart of Dublin from August, 6th to the 10th, 2008.
  
• The Rose of Tralee - 22 to 26 August 2008
  The Rose of Tralee attracts contestants and visitors from all over Ireland and the World to the colourful town of Tralee in Co. Kerry.
  
• Irish Match Making Festival Lisdoonvarna – Aug 29 to Sept
  The spa town of Lisdoonvarna close to the Burren in Co. Clare, celebrates the world famous Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival with music and lots of fun.
  
• Galway International Oyster Festival - 25 to 28 September
  The Galway International Oyster Festival is the premier event in the Galway calendar, when people from all over the world descend on Galway to sample the world famous oysters of Galway Bay and the legendary craic of the West of Ireland.
  
• Kinsale Food Festival - 10 to 12 October
  In October 2008, Kinsale, the gourmet food capital of Ireland, holds the Kinsale Food Festival promising a host of culinary delights, appearances from renowned celebrity chefs and a range of entertainments for all the family.
  
• Belfast Festival at Queens - October 24 to 27
  One of Ireland’s largest international arts, the Belfast Festival at Queens, takes place during the last two weeks of October with a host of internationally renowned acts in theatre, dance, music, comedy, literature and art.
  
• The Guinness Jazz Festival Cork – October 24 to 27
  Ireland’s biggest Jazz Event, the Guinness Jazz Festival in Cork kicks off at the end of October from the and this year promises to be one of the biggest ever.
  

Electrical Plugs are the same as in Britain (230V 50Hz)

They are three pin plug with 2 flat blades and one ground/earth blade
Visitors from other countries where the voltage is in the 200-240 range can use a simple adaptor but if your voltage is 110v like in the the USA and Canada then you must also get a voltage transformer for most appliances that you bring with you.

International Dialing Code

The international dialling for Ireland is 353.
Most mobile/cell phones will access this by dialling +353 but if you do not have the + on your phone then you must indicate the international access code which is 00 in most countries or 011 in the USA.
If you have been given an Irish number without the 353 then you will need to replace the initial 0 with +353. eg 057 8956321 is +35357 8956321 when dialling from outside Ireland.

Currency

Ireland has 2 valid currencies.
-The Euro (€) is used in the Republic of Ireland while the UKpound(£) is used in Northern Ireland.
Most businesses in the vicinity of the border will accept either currency…make sure to ask what exchange rate you are getting.

Languages Spoken

There are 2 official languages in Ireland; English and Irish.
Irish is a gaelic langauge of celtic origin while the English spoken is closer to British English than American English. For example, what is ‘fried’ in Ireland is considered ‘grilled’ in the USA and what is ‘grilled’ in ireland is considered ‘broiled’ in the USA.

Weights & Measures

The imperial system is still in use in Northern Ireland while the metric system is in use in the Republic.
This can cause considerable probelms for people who rent cars in the Republic of Ireland and drive through Northern Ireland; The instruments in the rental car are in KM only with no mention of miles, while the roadsigns in Northern Ireland (inclding speed limts) are in Miles only.
Be familiar with the conversions!

The imperial system is also different to that used in the USA. A gallon in Ireland is 4.54Litres while it is 3.83 Litres in the USA.

Mobile/cell Phones

There are 4 mobile/cell operatiors in the Republic of Ireland: O2, Vodafone, Meteor & 3
In Northern Ireland all the UK mobile operators are in place;

Driving

Driving is on the left hand side of the road in Ireland and the steering wheel is on the right hand side of the car. Most cars are manual transmission (stick) so if you want an automatic make sure you specify! Unfortunately automatic cars are much more expensive to rent than manuals.

Beer Temperature

There is a myth that the Irish drink their beer warm, this is NOT true.
Yes beer in the UK is warmer and this can follow through to Northern Ireland but Beer in the Republic of Ireland is served cold.
If you go to a pub in England you will notice a range of “extra cold” beers. This ‘extra cold’ option is not available in Ireland as the beer is already cold.

I’m fairly sure there are other tips that would be useful and will add to this post at a later date if I am alerted to them

To kick off this guide, I have posted information from wikipedia below on the island iof Ireland.

Geography of Ireland

- Political geography

The island of Ireland has two distinct countries:
1. The Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state, covers five-sixths of the island. Its capital is Dublin.
2. Northern Ireland, part of the UK, covers the remaining sixth. Its capital is Belfast.

Traditionally, Ireland is divided into four provinces; Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster; and 32 counties.

Twenty-six of the counties are in the Republic of Ireland, and the remaining six are in Northern Ireland. Notably, based on boundaries established in the Early Modern period, Ulster and Northern Ireland are not equivalent as three counties of Ulster (Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan) are part of the Republic of Ireland. Despite this, ‘Ulster’ is often used colloquially as a synonym for Northern Ireland by the pro union with Britain majority within that part of the province.

 Counties Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Tipperary have been broken up into smaller administrative areas, but are still considered by Ordnance Survey Ireland to be official counties.
The counties in Northern Ireland are no longer used for local government.

- Physical geography

A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil (Irish: Corrán Tuathail) in County Kerry, which is 1,038 m (3,406 ft). The River Shannon, at 386 km (240 miles) is the longest river in Ireland.[18] The island’s lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent but soft rainfall, earns it the sobriquet “Emerald Isle”. The island’s area is 84,412 km²[19] (32,591 square miles).

Ireland’s least arable land lies in the south-western and western counties. These areas are largely mountainous and rocky, with dramatic green vistas, hence the attributive name “the Emerald Isle”.

Overall, Ireland has a mild, but changeable, Oceanic climate with few extremes. The warmest recorded air temperature was 33.3 °C (91.94 °F) at Kilkenny Castle, County Kilkenny on 26 June 1887, where as the lowest recorded temperature was -19.1 °C (-2.38 °F) at Markree Castle, County Sligo on 16 January 1881.

Other statistics show that the greatest recorded annual rainfall was 3,964.9 mm (156.1 in) in the Ballaghbeena Gap in 1960. The driest year on record was 1887, with only 356.6 mm (14.0 in) of rain recorded at Glasnevin, while the longest period of absolute drought was in Limerick where there was no recorded rainfall over 38 days during April and May of 1938.

The climate is typically insular, and as a result of the moderating moist winds which ordinarily prevail from the South-Western Atlantic, it is temperate, avoiding the extremes in temperature of many other areas in the world at similar latitudes.

Precipitation falls throughout the year, but is light overall, particularly in the east. The west, however, tends to be wetter on average and prone to the full force of Atlantic storms, more especially in the late autumn and winter months, which occasionally bring destructive winds and high rainfall totals to these areas, as well as snow and hail. The regions of North Galway and East Mayo have the highest incidents of recorded lightning annually (5 to 10 days per year).Munster in the south records the least snow with Ulster in the north more prone to snow. Some areas along the south and southwest coasts have not had any lying snow since spring of 1991.

Inland areas are warmer in summer, and colder in winter – there are usually around 40 days of below freezing temperatures (0 °C/32 °F) at inland weather stations, but only 10 days at coastal stations. Ireland is sometimes affected by heat waves, most recently 1995, 2003, 2006.