Just the guidebook you need to see Ireland at any depth, for a short visit or an extended stay. Travelling in Ireland is pretty straightforward, simple, and every town is geared toward tourism, so this book may not be absolutely necessary to carry with you, but it is invaluable for planning purposes.

I have always been a fan of the lonely planet books, because they really help me find places to go in other countries. However, take my review with a grain of salt because, at this point, I have not taken my trip to Ireland yet. While it is informative and it has given me ideas of places to visit and hotels to stay in, I have not experienced what the book has said. However, it has helped me book hotels and design my iternerary.

After painfully attempting to plan my honeymoon to Ireland with another type of tour-guide, I decided to return to the one that made my trips to Thailand and Costa Rica truly memorable. What can I say? Lonely Planet never ceases to amaze me!! Their FULL review of countries caters to ALL types of travelers, including those on a budget. The other guides' authors write their reviews of primarily expensive places to eat and stay. They also write as if they were being compensated by the reviewees (which they probably are). Not Lonely Planet. These are by far the best guides out there...I will never purchace any other type of tour-guide.

If only have room for one Ireland travel guide, this is the one to take. I took four different guides with me on my recent trip (the other three were Eyewitness Travel, AAA, and Rick Steves), and I found Lonely Planet to be the most useful. It has good detail on all tourist destinations on the island, including those off the beaten path and in the Midlands. It's well organized, with useful maps.

I've been using Lonely Planet guide books for over 15 years, for all parts of the world---Africa, Europe, SE Asia, N America--and this is definitely the worst I've seen. I paid full price and wish I had read it (or the other reviews here) first.

A quick symbol of what's wrong with this book: The back cover, in an obvious effort to appeal to the Irish-American market, touts the book's usefulness for those wanting to "Get Back to Your Roots: hints and tips on researching the family tree." Not really my thing, but okay. Problem is, the entirety of information on genealogy consists of a tiny text box on p.682 that basically tells you to go buy some other books. Thanks! This same pattern is repeated throughout the book: endless efforts to appeal to a series of niche audiences (especially those w/ the $ to shell-out for the thing) with absolutely nothing treated in depth.

More serious problems:
--very thin information about transportation, particularly in less-traveled areas. thin info on ferries, driving, trains

--maps mediocre

--almost nothing discussing regional cultures, local histories, etc. Just a thin overview in the front

--coverage is best for those regions likely to be overrun by US tourists; other areas practically ignored

--the bias in accommodations is towards the high- and low-ends with the kinds of places most travelers would be interested in and able to stay at ignored (as with genealogical info, the list of websites giving accommodation info is far more useful than anything in the book itself)

--the border is pretty much a non-entity these days, but the differences between the two countries aren't discussed at all, or practicalities like driving a rental car across the border

(A minor point: is LP putting the orientation information (directories, getting to/from, health, etc) in the back of all its books, or just this one? The front seems a much more useful/obvious place to look for that kind of thing.)

In the end, the book isn't terrible--it just isn't very good. And that's hard to justify in an era when much of the information it contains can be had for free online.