Everything you need to know about Ireland
Follow Ireland from Dublin and the Boyne Valley across the Shannon to the Atlantic coast. Explore the Republic’s counties and cities, read the history and everyday life behind the places, then practise Irish. English is widely used in daily life, while Irish has a special place in the Gaeltacht and the country’s cultural identity.
Read it, then make it stick
Geography of Ireland
A low central plain, a chain of Shannon lakes and mountains along the coast.
Know the shape of the country
Start with the Republic of Ireland’s 26 traditional counties, then place twenty cities and towns and explore eight selected lakes and rivers. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom and is outside these county rounds. Traditional counties differ from the state’s 31 local authority areas. County boundaries and Shannon geometry: Natural Earth, public domain. Other water outlines: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0, with additional Natural Earth lake geometry. City coordinates are curated.
Places worth visiting
Essential · Coast & cliffs
Cliffs of Moher
Sheer cliffs run along the Clare coast high above the Atlantic. Walk the cliff path toward Hag’s Head for quieter views out to the Aran Islands.
Start with Dublin and the great Atlantic cliffs, then head out to the islands and mountain loops of the west. Essential is our shortlist for a first trip, and worth a detour goes further. Select a pin to read about a place, then play the map and find them all.
Take Irish with you
Greetings and politeness
Hello, please, thank you, sorry: the ten openers everything else builds on.
Keep going one country deeper
When you have had your fill of Ireland, the countries marked guide have a page like this one, and every other has maps of its own.
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