5 comments about A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland, Second Edition.

1. Now in a new and expanded second edition, A New Genealogical Atlas Of Ireland by genealogical expert Brian Mitchell has added maps detailing the location of Roman Catholic parishes in all thirty-two counties of Ireland, and Presbyterian congregations in the nine counties of Northern Ireland. A complete geographical picture of the three major religious dominations in Ireland during the middle years of the 19th century is another newly added feature. An invaluable reference and guide for doing genealogical research for an Irish ancestry, A New Genealogical Atlas Of Ireland continues to be an indispensable, core addition to personal, professional, and genealogical society reference collections.



2. Now in an updated second edition, genealogy research expert Brian Mitchell's A New Genealogical Atlas Of Ireland is a very straightforward, accessible reference, presenting maps of each Irish county. Each county has five maps: one depicting the Church of Ireland parishes, one showing the baronies and Church of Ireland dioceses, one of the poor law unions and parishes included within probate districts, one of Roman Catholic parishes and dioceses, and a fifth set of maps for the nine counties of Northern Ireland shows Presbyterian congregations. Since civil registration for everyone in Ireland didn't begin until 1864, A New Genealogical Atlas Of Ireland is an extremely useful reference for tracing ancestors who lived prior to 1864. An invaluable contribution to genealogical reference and resource materials.



3. This book doesn't give me all the answers I needed, but it has been a trememdous help in getting closer to finding my Irish Ancestors. Worth adding to my bookshelf.



4. This book is just what it is called: an atlas. It does not give advice or information about irish history, genealogy, or anything of the sort (which is what I had mistakenly hoped for). It is a very, very detailed atlas of the counties, parishes, and every other conceivable subdivision of the land of Ireland over the last 200 years. It could be a valuable resource for anyone who has their genealogical research within Ireland already. If you are like me, and have traced the family to the boat ride but no further, this will not help you quite yet.
   
   Thank you still to the author for the extensive research that must have gone into this!



5. This publication perfectly fills my need as a tool to visually orient myself with Ireland's complicated system of local area boundaries. Invaluable when sorting through parishes, townlands, poor law unions and baronies.

1 comments about Complete Road Atlas of Ireland (Irish - Maps, Atlases and Guides) (English, French and German Edition).

1. If you are planning a self driving trip to Ireland then this is the map-book you need. Love it! Every couple of years we pick up the latest installment from Ordnance Survey Ireland, OSI, for our self driving tour of the country and use the bejeebus out of it. (Though we usually buy it in Ireland at Eason's or another book store once we arrive there.)
   
   This spiral bound book has all the main M and N roads as well as most if not all of those tiny unnumbered back roads that criss cross Ireland and get you lost in no time at all. Oh, we still get lost, that's part of the charm of driving in Ireland, but I'm much better at getting us back on track when needs be. The pages are clearly marked and easy to read. There are many towns, large and small, listed in the index so you can find the page and grid where each one is very easily.
   
   I'm especially grateful for the "Motoring Information" section at the beginning of the book that lists the various signs you will run across when driving in Ireland, whether Northern Ireland or in the Republic. Very handy especially when signs may have a picture but are written in Irish (Gaelic). There's a legend for the map, of course, a distance chart & conversion table and, in the back, golfing information.
   
   My one "complaint" is that the maps in the back of the book of the larger main towns (like Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway, etc) are just the most basic highlights of the main roads for each town. Do NOT rely on these maps alone to get you around these larger cities and towns unless you are a) just passing through and want to stick to those main roads or b) are traveling to a spot in town that is on one of those main roads and not off them at any distance. Once in Galway (or where ever) head for the Tourist Office for a better detailed map of the city you are visiting.
   
   Otherwise, this book is perfect!

5 comments about Frommer's Road Atlas Ireland (Road Atlas).

1. I bought two atlases for Ireland. The other seems to be slightly better for the road, but this one is far better for the cities. If you're going to get just one, I would recommend this one.



2. We didn't stick to the main roads in Ireland...and this road atlas was invaluable to our travel, ensuring that we were heading in the right direction! We traveled from Dublin north to the Hill of Tara and Newgrange, then south to Waterford, west to Dingle, north to Galway and into smaller cities like Inagh. This map was much more valuable than the one we received from the car rental company and highlighted what type of road we should expect. Definitely recommended if you want to leave the main roads.



3. I had ordered another map but did not receive it so I reordered this one and now am so glad I did. It is great and has all the Gaelic names of the towns and places along with the 'English' version so that I can easily find the places I am looking for. I have an erasable marking pen to trace my route and these map pages are just easy to use and with the spiral binding, it can lay flat anywhere. I do like it!!



4. We used this for a week-long trip to Ireland. It was not the best choice of maps, and we had a hard time finding our way. We did like that the names were in Gaelic as well as English, and the coverage/transition when going from one page to the next was excellent. It was good for planning a route. But when it came time to actually drive the route, we needed a map that was more "zoomed in" to give more small street detail. We were constantly driving by a small road, wondering "is that what we're supposed to take?" If I had to do it again, I would have rented a GPS from the rental car company.



5. This atlas of Ireland has all the information you will need for your trip to the beautiful Country of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

5 comments about Streetwise Ireland Laminated Road Map.

1. This time when I traveled to Ireland I planned to do quite a bit of driving. I'm glad I brought this little and easy to use laminated map along. Especially for driving in Dublin. This map has a great city map of Dublin, and a good map for the major motorways in the entire country, including Northern Ireland. I found this really handy and easy to use while driving, although I needed to rely on a larger multi-page street atlas for smaller towns and smaller country roads. This would be the perfect map for anyone who needs to navigate the large city of Dublin and the surrounding suburbs, or who want to make major motorway trips to other cities or points of interest.



2. This was helpful, but a lot of the streets were not marked, we got to see more of the city due to that fact!



3. Planning to drive in Ireland. My travel book recommended the waterproof map. Found it here. Will take it on my travels. It was worth the money and will help me navagate through the green hills of Ireland. Many Thanks



4. I expected more detail but there are really only the major roads. Couldn't find any of the secondary roads that we plan to travel on. The format (laminated, accordion-fold) is great and it would be easy to take with you. Should last well. I guess for what I need, it would need to be larger and therefore not as convenient. Hard to have everything.



5. Can't wait to use this map on our trip next year! Excellent map and seller sent quickly!!

No comments about Frommer's 25 Great Drives in Ireland (Best Loved Driving Tours).

5 comments about Michelin Ireland/Irlande (Multilingual Edition).

1. This map was a very useful tool while driving in Ireland in November 2008. We had planned our routes with google maps before leaving home and this map gave us the details we needed to find all of the places we wished to visit as well as finding our way on the rare occasions we made a wrong turn. Highly recommend this map. The size was not a problem as we folded it based on the area we were in each day and it was the perfect tool for the navigator. The highways are clearly marked in Ireland and it was easy to find our way as long as we kept in mind the places we had to go through in order to reach our final destination.



2. As we haven't yet used the map, I can only say that it appears to be quite detailed. It is certainly huge enough. It may be fun trying to use it in a car. As big as it is it should certainly have good detail.



3. This Michelin Ireland Regional Map is invaluable for automobile touring the Emerald Isle. At a 1:40,000 scale, it covers all of Ireland on one large folded map, which is periodically updated to ensure currency of information. It is in sufficient detail to navigate from town to town. Its multicolored presentatio and simplified graphics should allow the experienced traveler to use the terrain as a navigation aid. The map sheet includes an index of cities, towns, and major villages, and an inset map of Dublin.
   
   It is only fair to note a couple of shortcomings. The paper format wears poorly under repeated refolding of the map to get at a particular area of interest, and tends not to survive close encounters with coffee or tea. Supplmental Ordnance Survey Ireland Discovery Series maps are recommended for any off-road activities such as biking or hiking. This particular Michelin Ireland map is very highly recommended, however, as a planning and navigation aid for the visitor touring Ireland by automobile.



4. I read travel books, listened to podcasts and quizzed people who had travelled to Ireland. The common recomendation was to have a good road map before trying to navigate thru Ireland on vacation. Everyone agreed that the best map was from Michelin.
   
   I ordered one.
   
   This map was better than anything else that I saw (AAA, travel agencies, tourist information sites). It also proved to be worth much more than its purchase price.
   
   Going to Ireland? Get the Michelin map.



5. I am convinced the Michelin staff have continued playing "Pin the Town Name on the Map." Errors in the earlier version remain, showing towns on the map mere miles apart in reality existing many miles apart; often in different counties.
   Not a dependable map by any stretch of the imagination.

3 comments about Streetwise Dublin Laminated City Street Map.

1. Didn't get wet, fit in pocket, accurate, handy, what more could be wanted. I marked it with a fine point sharpie to find stuff.



2. Streetwise Maps are perfect for our travels. Before leaving home, I mark our hotel and places we intend to visit. While in a city I carry the map & pen. I have guides, cab drivers, concierges, etc. mark certain locations on the map so we won't get lost. These maps are priceless.



3. We used this map for a three-day stay in Dublin. We used it for walking - not for auto use - and it was totally sufficient. It is a good size, and I really like that it was laminated. It had everything on it that we needed.

5 comments about AA Road Atlas Ireland (Aa Atlases and Maps).

1. This atlas is inferior to the Ordnance Survey Atlas (ISBN 978-1-905511-40-2). We bought the AA atlas before our Ireland trip and found we needed the Ordnance Survey atlas once we got there.



2. This Atlas saved us a lot of time by identifying smaller country roads and shortcuts between major motorways. If it weren't for the sheep or tractors getting in the way, we would have saved even more time. This is a very detailed atlas that covers the entire country of Ireland, and is very helpful for cities both large and small. Highly recommended for anyone that plans on doing any serious driving around Ireland.



3. In the past I have gone online and printed out maps from the Automobile Assn in Ireland. The maps and directions were always spot on and now I have the book! There are so many places I want to go now that I can see the whole country in one spot....If you need one set of maps this is the one to purchase.



4. I recently returned from a one week trip to Ireland and used this Road Atlas extensively along with a fold out map of the entire country. This Atlas was superb outside the cities. However, the city maps in the back were not helpful. They are too small to offer the details a visitor needs. If you are spending time in the cities, particularly Dublin, invest in actual maps of the cities. We learned to go around cities whenever possible. I would add to anyone doing a lot of driving in Ireland to be aware that the main traveled roads (yellow and red on the map) are generally narrow and windy. Also the speeds seemed high to us on these roads. We thoroughly enjoyed getting off these roads and onto the "white" roads on the map. These are very rural, not well traveled roads that allow a visitor to take their time. Have fun in Ireland and if you're doing a lot of country driving, I highly recommend this Atlas.



5. This detailed atlas was essential for our recent driving tour of Ireland. The enlarged maps were easy to read, and most tourist sites were marked. In several locations the map saved us when the rental car GPS showed a blank screen. The rental car map was useless. There wasn't a lot of detail for towns other than the town centre of large cities. If you plan to drive yourself, an atlas like this plus the GPS will get you to your destination.

1 comments about Frommer's Ireland 2010 (Frommer's Complete).

1. Yeah, don't buy this for Kindle. Sucks, maps are worthless. Does not translate well to Kindle. Better to have the book in hand. Not a good idea putting it on Kindle. Also, Amazon won't give you money back in any easy fashion if you don't like your Kindle purchase.
   
   Bummer....

5 comments about Rick Steves' Ireland 2010 with map.

1. As usual, Rick has done a supurb job at bringing a country to life. A little history, a little joking, and a lot of what to see and where to go. Rick is right up front, Ireland is a country to be experienced, not just seen. The people are the real key to the heart of Ireland. Bring your voice and dancing shoes and be prepared to stay late!



2. It is always a pleasure to be in the old country. But things/shops/restaurants change of course. Rick Steves gives current news which helps the traveler re-visit the " I gotta go back and see the......... again" and dine/stay/travel/visit with ease and confidence.



3. We spent 9 days in Ireland in summer 2009. We're a 50's couple and have traveled a lot and like to stay out in the country side. This guide is by no means a complete guide to Ireland, and there are a lot of places that are not mentioned. For example, we spent a great nice at Bantry House in Bantry Bay, not even in the index. But, if you follow his guide, you will see a lot of interesting things. We took his tour around the Dingle Peninsula and found it to be a great day and he made some great suggestions, like going the opposite way of the buses. I would get a rather conventional guide book and this one and use them both. Then, for your next trip you'll know if you are a Rick Steve kind of traveler or not.



4. Getting Through the "Back Door"
   Review of Rick Steves' travel guidebooks
   Since 1980 Rick Steves' "back door" travel philosophy has guided Americans through Europe. Before publishing his first Europe Through the Back Door guide, Steves taught about travel in a classroom. Now he has a series of travel guides and is the host of a public television series and radio show. His expansive knowledge and experience with European culture and his charming personality have attracted many followers. Rick Steves' travel guides are ideal for the inexperienced traveler or for those going to an unfamiliar destination. Useful information for traveling in Europe is provided in a compact, affordable, paperback book. Steves' Ireland 2010 book costs [...] at Borders ([...] on Amazon) and his Italy 2010 book costs [...] at Borders ([...] on Amazon). Most of the guides are around 8 x 4 inches and weigh around one pound. The cost is suitable for a budgeted audience and its size is adequate for traveling.
   Rick Steves' travel guides are colorful, neatly organized, and easy to read. At first glance readers will see a small, blue and yellow book with a destination labeled in large letters above a welcoming image of the location. Readers open up to a table of contents, making it easy to locate particular sections of interest. This is followed by a short overview of the country's history, culture, and people, accompanied by vivid pictures. The bulk of the book contains detailed information covering a number of topics. An index, map index, and appendix are also provided at the back of the book. While packed with information Steves' travel guides are never boring. In
   fact readers will fly through the pages as Steves shares fun facts and important tips in an honest and sometimes humorous manner. He admits that when traveling things that seem "God-given" like "cold beer" and "bottomless cups of coffee" are no longer true. Instead of instilling fear in the reader, Steves evokes excitement.
   There are several maps included in the guides displaying the country, its main destinations or cities, and other points of interest in the surrounding areas. A foldout color map of the country is provided in the back of all of his 2010 books, which can be carried while walking. Durable and small, it is a smart and useful item for any traveler to have. Besides maps there are also pictures on almost every page of the country's landscape, sights, and people. Most of the pictures and maps in the beginning of the guides are in color but the majority of them are in black and white. While color may be more appealing to the reader, it doesn't seem to detract from the quality of the guide. Steves' textual information is intriguing enough on its own, and pictures, while nice to look at, are not crucial.
   Before journeying to a destination, Steves provides travelers with a handy set of packing and preparation tips. He explains what is essential to bring based on his own experience. This "packing checklist" is very helpful and easy to adjust according to the length of one's trip and one's personal taste. Steves also gives advice about when in the year is the best time to go to a particular destination. Preparing finances and insurance is also addressed. On top of it all he has a three-week trip plan with destinations and attractions that will ensure a memorable trip.
   If there is a special place that may be under looked by travelers, Steves will make sure that the readers of his guides do not. Often Steves will provide information about small villages or towns away from the tourist scene. He is wonderful when it comes to encouraging readers to
   explore the culture of a place, and become "temporary locals." He stresses the importance of communicating and connecting with the people, giving a culture "the benefit of your open mind." If a traveler is not enjoying a place, Steves feels that the person does not know enough about it. He urges people to wander and "seek the truth." To help direct them in their investigations, he provides routes for self-guided walks. These walks are an adventurous alternative to sightseeing tours, at no cost.
   At the same time he acknowledges that people want to be tourists too, and certainly provides the information they are looking for. In his Ireland 2010 guidebook a section called "Ireland at a glance" provides highlights of popular areas and attractions on the island. Besides just giving information about these hot spots, he also mentions where and how to get discounts. He makes sure to include important sight rules and guidelines so readers know ahead of time how to behave and what can or cannot be brought. Special passes are also mentioned, particularly for seniors and children.
   Sleeping arrangements are made easy with Steves' help. Steves lists different types of sleeping accommodations available in each destination, discussing quality, numbers of beds and baths, and costs. These accommodations range from hostels to hotels to farmhouses. Steves provides a rating system, or "Sleep Code", which categorizes accommodations by price. He also uses coded letters to distinguish what a room has in terms of beds and baths, and so on. His use of codes saves space and ink, also making the book itself smaller. While some accommodations such as hostels go for [...] a night, others such as farmhouses cost [...] per week. Hostels are good for backpackers and students on a budget, while farmhouses are better for families or adults who want to indulge a little. While some places are more expensive than others, Steves
   provides readers with tips for saving money. To make reservations easier, he also supplies hotel reservation forms in the Appendix of the book.
   As already seen, costs do vary depending on preference. But it is fact that one needs money to travel. Rick Steves values a tight budget and is constantly searching for the lowest prices without compensating quality. For sightseeing and entertainment costs in Ireland, Steves estimates that a person would spend an average of [...] a day. Airfare (if coming from the U.S.) is estimated at [...]. Steves also recognizes adults and students who are traveling, and provides different calculations for the two. For example, in Ireland 2010 Steves would say that the average adult should be prepared to spend [...] per day. On the other hand a student should be prepared to spend around [...] a day. This takes care of food, transportation, sleeping, and other miscellaneous things.
   Although Rick Steves' travel guides contain no interviews or eyewitness accounts, they are not necessary. Steves is a man with great experience and dedication to his work. Every year he travels to his destinations to keep updated on current events and changes to businesses, costs, sights, and more. His Europe Through the Back Door series has become widely known for its outstanding information and advice. One Amazon reviewer regards his guide as "the most valuable resource" to have while traveling. Another claims that he has "used Rick's advice before and [has] never been let down."
   Steves' travel guides can be used for any adult, family, or student traveler. His focus on low cost traveling appeals to anyone traveling on a budget. The ease with which information flows through the guidebooks makes traveling simple and less overwhelming for a person with little to no experience. For further information Steves provides his self-titled website on the back
   cover of the book and also tells the reader to check out his television series. Follow Rick Steves' guidelines and get through the "back door" of Europe with the guarantee of an exciting trip.
   
   Bibliography:
   
   "Customer Reviews." Amazon. Web. 15 Feb 2010. [...]
   
   "Rick Steves." Wikipedia. 24 Jan. 2010. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Web. 4 Feb 2010. [...]
   
   Steves, Rick, and Pat O'Connor. Rick Steves' Ireland 2010. Pap/Map ed. Avalon Travel
   Publishing, 2009. 504. Print.
   
   Steves, Rick. Rick Steves' Italy 2010. Pap/Map ed. Avalon Travel Publishing, 2009. 1024.
   Print.



5. This is probably the 10th book I have bought by Rick Steves. I travel alot. His books are full of information you can use or not it is your choice. I have nothing bad to say about his books. We are going to Ireland this summer for several books and have booked many B&B's he has suggested, also going to visit many of the places he suggested.
   We hope to have a marvelous time as usual.