About Ireland?
Ireland facts
What would you like to know about Ireland? Well, it's a small green island, shaped like a teddy bear, on the outer of Europe in the Atlantic Ocean. Ireland is approximately 32,500 square miles with a population of about 6.5 million and rising. Being so sparsely populated, it rarely gets crowded, so if you are looking for a quiet, relaxed vacation than you have come to the right place! Weather wise, we never get extremes, with an average temperature of around 5-10 degrees Celsius during the winter and 15 - 25 in the summer, if we are lucky? We don't have any nasty bugs, mosquitoes or snakes either, thanks to St Patrick who drove them all out of Ireland a long time ago. Our prevailing winds blow in from the West over the Atlantic ocean which means we get a fair amount of rain or what we call 'soft days' in Ireland, with zero atmospheric pollution. All of this rain has given rise the famous 40 shades of green in Ireland's landscapes....
Ireland by satellite on a clear day.About Ireland
We are very proud of our little island, Ireland is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe, we have almost full employment and great tax revenues. And like the rest of the world it has taken a while for our Tourism Industry a to recover after Covid but 2023 has been very busy so far and bookings are really strong for 2024. We have a long history of resilience and optimism in Ireland and would always consider our glass of Guinness or Whiskey to be half full, rather than half empty!
Bushmills Inn, County AntrimTravel advice
Something else you should know about Ireland, is that we are a very friendly nation, easy going, amenable and relatively laid back and while the standards of food and accommodation have greatly improved, we are still hopeless at timekeeping! We are on GMT by the way. Our public transport system too, outside of the main cities is fairly minimal, to say the least. But renting a car is simple enough to do if you don't mind driving on the opposite side of the very narrow roads! Or if you don't fancy driving you can always take a Guided Tour of Ireland with me and not have to worry about any of the planning or the responsibility of renting a hire car. Ireland is made up of 32 counties, 26 of which belong to the Republic of Ireland (Irish) while 6 still remain in Northern Ireland (British). It’s a long story 800 years and counting in fact, don't ask? Although it had a happy ending of sorts in that we have spent the whole 2016 celebrating 100 years of Independence....
about Northern ireland
For more about Northern Ireland please click here.
Tour Scotland in 2024 with Susan Byron