The best little piece of literature I found in Ireland was the bus schedule, a booklet that lists every town and locality. With this booklet, which costs about a dollar, a traveler can plan any short or long journeys while there. Another useful item is the Ordnance Survey Holiday Map. There are four of these, for North, West, South and East. With these and the bus schedule, you can find all the places you'd like to visit, figure out travel times, and set up the framework for your trip.
Hotels are expensive.
Hostels are at the low end of the price spectrum, but next time I'd stay away from them in the cities and opt for a bed and breakfast. Arnie's Backpacker in Belfast, a quiet little townhouse with a fantastic post card collection in the dining room. Other city hostels have sleeping rooms with 16 or more bunks, making for a lot of noise during the night as people come and go. All the hostels I stayed at were clean and comfortable. Inc. All Rights Reserved.