Long gone are the days when Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Europe and its natives fled to all corners of the globe in search of refuge. Today, it is cool to be Irish and, thanks to the likes of The Corrs, Boyzone, Westlife and U2, evocative images of Ireland now pervade popular culture across the globe. The Ireland of the new millennium is a modern, progressive European nation whose ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy is booming, but it is not only Irish eyes that are smiling as more and more tourists discover Ireland for themselves.
Dublin is undoubtedly the spiritual and cultural heart of the Emerald Isle. Crowding around the banks of the murky River Liffey, the city, like the country, is bound in rich layers of history, back to the days when Celtic tribes wandered the peat bogs, to the present that sees the city overflowing with trendy bars and nightclubs.
Elsewhere, the cities of Cork, Galway and Limerick boast their own charms, but it is out in the rolling countryside that you can unearth the idyllic Ireland of the movies. Here, in the atmospheric old pubs, you can experience the legendary craic where music and song lead the course of an evening. Alternatively, ramble over the hills of Glenmalure or sail through the mist-shrouded Pater-Noster Lakes; places that seem a million miles away from the tourist maelstrom of Dublin.
