With quiet roads, striking scenery and brimming with 5,000 years of heritage, north Leinster is a marvellous region to discover by bike. These thirty routes, exploring coast, lake, river and canal routes, vary in distance and difficulty and are graded to suit all abilities. Greenways along canals and old railway lines are ideal for novices and families, while the adventurous can take a challenge through the mountains of Louth's breathtaking Cooley Peninsula. Each cycle is prefaced with summary information and illustrated with photos, a custom-drawn map and a gradient graph. Anecdotes, history and profiles of interesting locals are included throughout, adding colour to coffee breaks in the sleepy villages and medieval towns that dot the picturesque landscape. All but one of the routes are looped back to the train stations from which they started, making for perfect days out. Visit the early Christian settlement of Monasterboice or the original home of the Book of Kells. Take in spectacular views across Dublin Bay or the legendary Hill of Tara. This practical and informative guide covers the scenic and the curious in this land of saints and scholars.

South Leinster has a surprising variety of terrain, boasting canals, blanket bogs, rolling woodlands, golden beaches and brilliant green pastures interspersed with fields of golden barley. Quiet roads with excellent surfaces make this beautiful corner of Ireland perfect for exploring by bike, with some great climbs and descents, notably in the Slieve Bloom Mountains, adding exciting challenges. A journey through this picturesque countryside is also a trip through the ages, with many historical places of interest along the way. Break your journey with pit stops at round towers, restored mansions with attractive gardens like Emo Court, traditional lighthouses such as Hook Lighthouse, or the graves of great Irish figures like Shackleton and Wolfe Tone.The graded routes suit all abilities, and are each illustrated with a colour map, photos, a gradient graph, and key facts and statistics. Information is also provided on the many natural landmarks and historical sites en route. Each trip guarantees a terrific day out for the curious cyclist.

From the doorstep of Dublin city, there is easy access to a cycling haven of deep glens, forested mountains and wild scenery, including the Wicklow Mountains. This guidebook journeys through some of the country's best-known tourist attractions, such as Glendalough, and reveals lesser-known points of interest like the Shay Elliott memorial to the first Irish rider to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. The graded routes suit all abilities, and are illustrated with colour maps, photos and gradient graphs, with information on the many natural landmarks and historical sites en route. The historic Military Road is central to many of the cycles. Constructed in the aftermath of the 1798 Rebellion, it runs from Rathfarnham in south Dublin to Aughavannagh in south-west Wicklow, with a side arm from Enniskerry to Glencree, and from the Sally Gap to Roundwood. Try your hand as a Tour de France competitor, revisiting the 1998 stage, which raced through the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, finishing in the Phoenix Park. Surprising insights and useful tips are shared throughout, allowing cyclists to enjoy the wonders and challenges of south Dublin and Wicklow.

With some of Ireland's most beautiful and untamed scenery, 400km of rugged coastline and enticingly peaceful roads, what better way to explore County Kerry than by bike? These scenic cycles will guide you along popular routes and bring you to hidden gems. In a county famous for its climbs, some of the country's most spectacular ascents, summit views and descents feature, including the Conor Pass and Ballaghbeama. Each route description is illustrated with colour maps, photos, a gradient graph and key facts and statistics. Information is provided on the natural landmarks and historical sites you'll see along the way. With over 2,500km of road covered, the graded routes suit all abilities, from casual to experienced cyclists. So take a trip through majestic mountains and along wild seashores: a cycle in Kerry will take your breath away in every sense. Also available: 'Cycle Munster – Great Road Routes'

With routes spanning the province, here is everything you need to explore the highways and byways of Munster – on two wheels. This popular guide has now been updated to include the Waterford Greenway, which officially opened in spring 2017. The route, set against the glorious backdrop of the Comeragh Mountains, runs for 46km along an old railway line between Waterford and Dungarvan, crossing three stunning viaducts and taking in charming villages along the way. Graded cycles along the greenway are outlined, from shorter jaunts to suit families, through challenges for intermediate cyclists, up to a 92km loop of the whole route for the experienced. Each of the routes in the guide is graded by difficulty, from the gentlest, shortest circuits in Cork, through Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, to the thigh-burning Ring of Kerry, and Waterford's Copper Coast and Grand Vee. Each cycle is prefaced with summary information and illustrated with photos, a custom-drawn map and a gradient graph. You will also learn about the historical sites and natural landmarks you'll see along the way, as well as getting tips on where to stop for a coffee. Cycle stunning coastal roads on the Wild Atlantic Way. Challenge yourself on mountain passes. Pedal through tranquil woods and lakesides, charming towns and villages. Discover routes to suit all abilities and many hidden gems.

Leinster is one of the most successful and influential Irish sporting teams of all time. The team boasts a dazzling roster of players, past and present, including Brian O’Driscoll, Johnny Sexton, Jamie Heaslip and current captain James Ryan. But there is so much more to rugby in Leinster, and, for the first time, this book compiles the rich history of the sport in the province, from its origins in the school and university teams, through the amateur years, with the growth of clubs throughout the province, to the dawn of the professional age and the many spectacular championships won by the province in the twenty-first century, when the national love for rugby kicked up a gear. Doolin celebrates all the breathless victories enjoyed by Leinster teams at every level, but it’s not just about the silverware. He looks at the challenges that rugby faced in surviving and growing province-wide since it was first played in Dublin in the nineteenth century. He also ruminates on the sport’s relationships with politics and class, which reflect the complexities of politics and identity in Ireland as a whole. A History of Rugby in Leinster is a vibrant celebration of sport-ing greatness and of Leinster’s enduring commitment to teamwork, integrity and community.

Ireland possesses an early and exceptionally rich medieval vernacular tradition in which memory plays a key role. What attitudes to remembering and forgetting are expressed in secular early Irish texts? How do the texts conceptualise the past and what does this conceptualisation tell us about the present and future? Who mediates and validates different versions of the past and how is future remembrance guaranteed? This study approaches such questions through close readings of individual texts. It centres on three major aspects of medieval Irish memory culture: places and landscapes, the provision of information about the past by miraculously old eye-witnesses, and the personal, social and cultural impact of forgetting. The discussions shed light on the relationship between memory and forgetting and explore the connections between the past, present and future. This shows the fascinating spatio-temporal identity constructions in medieval Ireland and links the Irish texts to the broader European world. The monograph makes this rich literary sources available to an interdisciplinary audience and is of interest to both a general medievalist audience and those working in Cultural Memory Studies.

Now available in PDF format. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Back Roads Ireland vacation driving tour guidebook reveals the secret gems and hidden delights that can only be discovered along the Emerald Isle's most scenic routes and back roads. Twenty-five themed drives, each lasting one to five days, introduces travelers to the soul of Ireland--from the golden beaches of Cork and the spectacular Sheep's Head peninsula to the bushy glens of classic Northern Ireland and spellbinding caverns of the lakelands. Along the way, these driving tours of Ireland highlight day-trips and activities such as walks and hikes, bird-watching and beach strolls, islands and lighthouses, and children's attractions. Pass by ancient stone circles and megalithic tombs, Celtic crosses, medieval castles, and stately homes. Practical information, such as road conditions, lengths of drives, and zip codes for GPS devices, accompanies the complete itineraries and pull-out map, as do listings for the best-value hotels, intimate guesthouses, local produce-friendly restaurants, and cozy pubs. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Back Roads Ireland leads travelers to the most authentic and delightful experiences the country has to offer.

Incisive, engaging and thought-provoking, Destiny of the Soldiers charts Fianna Fáil's political and ideological evolution from its revolutionary origins through extended periods in office. Fianna Fáil is Ireland's largest political party and one of the most successful parties in any democracy in the world. Until recent years, it has been almost constantly in government since 1932.. This fascinating volume argues that Fianna Fáil's goals, foremost among them the reunification of the national territory as a republic, became the means to bind its members together, to gain votes, and to legitimise its role in Irish society. But the official ideological goals concealed what became merely a basic desire to rule. The balance sheet, consequently, became one of votes won or lost rather than goals achieved or postponed. Destiny of the Soldiers assesses Fianna Fáil's changing attitudes towards its parent party, Sinn Féin, and the IRA, and how these changes affected Fianna Fáil's policies towards Northern Ireland. Never forgetting its republican roots, Fianna Fáil has at times been both troubled and conflicted by them. This was especially the case in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the Northern Ireland Troubles posed a challenge for all rhetorical republicans. At that time, Fianna Fáil found itself the governing party of a state whose legitimacy it had originally rejected: the consequent tensions nearly tore it apart. Destiny of the Soldiers is the first survey of the party's history which focuses on these unresolved tensions. Destiny of the Soldiers: Table of Contents - Legion of the Rearguard: The revolutionary origins of Fianna Fáil, 1920–23 - Removing the straitjacket of the Republic, 1923–6 - Fianna Fáil—the Republican Party - Fianna Fáil and the Irish Free State, 1927–31 - Election Time, 1931–2 - Fianna Fáil in power, 1932–8 - Revolutionary crocodile, 1939–40 - The showdown, 1940–46 - A new republican rival, 1946–8 - Drift, 1948–59 - Approach to crisis, 1960–69 - 'The moment of truth', 1969–71 - Doomsday, 1971–3 - Conclusions: The destiny of the Soldiers