East Coast Radio ran a promo for The Morning Show earlier this week and it said that they would be covering the 2008 Lonely Planet Guide to Ireland. “Wicklow features prominently in the guide”, said show’s host, Declan Meehan. I don’t get to listen to the show in the morning and the repeat is on too late, and they don’t have a Podcast, so I went and bought the book to have a gawp.

There are a few glossy colour pages in the front of the book called “Ireland Highlights”. 14 places/things to do in Ireland get a singling out. Glendalough gets the nod along with

• Dublin Pubs
• Inishmor
• Coastal walk, Derry and Antrim
• Baltimore
• Kinsale
• Traditional Music
• Slieve League
• Connemara
• Dingle Peninsula
• Cycling Ireland
• Hook Peninsula
• West Belfast
• Bear Peninsula

Looks like the ‘West is best’ for The Lonely Planet…

In the paragraph about Glendalough the guide says:

“Glendalough is basically a beautiful valley with two huge lakes, an old monastic site, and an amazing opportunity for hiking, but the scenery is the real reason to go. In the spring, both the drive there (which is through Wicklow) and the actual place itself are breathtaking”

This paragraph was written by a member of the lonely planet forum and you would have to agree that the drive from Dublin, over the mountains and down into Glendalough is as described.

Covering County Wicklow takes 19 pages of the guide and the introductory page has an interesting take on County Wicklow’s planning laws.

“Yet the Garden of Ireland has been successful in fending off the worst ravages of the urban expansion, mostly because so much of the county remains defiantly opposed to the planner’s bulldozers. Strict planning regulations aside, there’s little to be done about the county’s most imposing natural feature, a gorse-and-bracken mountain spine that is as wildly beautiful as it is impenetrable to the planners who want to lay out yet another housing estate.”

Little bit confusing there, but they go on to say:

“Here, history and geology work together to great effectand preserve one of Ireland’s most stunning landscapes, replete with dramatic glacial valleys, soaring mountain passes and some of the country’s most important archaeological treasures…” Nice description.

Over the next 18 pages, the guide gives a decent enough summary of the things to do around the County and they don’t coat their words in sugar…

Here are a few examples:

Bray

“You’d be hard pressed to find traces of the glorious seaside resort once described as the ‘Irish Brighton’, but the sleepy dormitory town of Bray is a fairly pleasant spot.. Sights : Top of the pretty small heap is the heritage centre…. Eating : There are a couple of half-decent spots for a bite of lunch in Bray” – Faint praise is damning – “fairly pleasant… small heap… half-decent”

Greystones

“The resort of Greystones, 8km south of Bray, was once a charming fishing village, and the seafront around the little harbour is idyllic.. Sadly, the surrounding countryside is vanishing beneath housing developments” (yay, gooooo team Wicklow County Council for that one)

Wicklow Town

“Besides one top-notch attraction, there’s not much to keep the visitor but it is a decent exploring base.” (hmmm, there’s more to Wicklow Town than that)

Arklow

“Wicklow’s biggest and busiest town is a thriving commercial centre.. Although this may not inspire you to change route and come here, chances are if you’re in this part of the county you’ll probably end up here anyway” (eh, methinks they have decide Bray isn’t actually part of County Wicklow by designating Arklow as County Wicklow’s biggest town…

All in all, it’s typical of a Lonely Planet guide. It’s written in a conversational style that is appealing and the account it gives of County Wicklow is positive, despite the little bits I picked out. And I picked those out because, like in family situations, it’s ok to have the opinion yourself, but if an outsider says it, you get defensive!

If I worked in the tourism industry in County Wicklow I would be working on a handy downloadable “Better than Lonely Planet” guide to County Wicklow which covers what they cover, corrects the errors, and has a ‘they say’, ‘we say’ section. I would have a tick list in the guide with points awarded to various places a visitor takes in during their time in County Wicklow. Once a certain number of points are reached they can then apply for a special “Honorary Citizen of Wicklow” award, which could be sent to them by email. Something like that would create some column inches in media around the country which would do no harm for the domestic trade as well.

You can pick up the Lonely Planet guide to Ireland for around €20 in your local bookshop.