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If you've got a great Irish site that we don't know about, why not let us know? Just send the site's full name and address to editor Sheila McDonald, and one of our reviewers will give it a look-see. Click here if you only want to view this month's list of sites.
If being Irish is a matter of great emotional significance to you, you'd better leave your reverence at the door with 2 Irish, a new comedy site that parodies every Irish thing its creators can think of, from English imperialism to the Irish Civil War. (Think South Park meets St. Patrick, and you'll just about have it.) Visitors will need the Shockwave plug-in to view the animated movies on the site, which also features daily off-beat Irish news, and convincing explanations of why "renowned figures like Einstein and Queen renowned of 'England' (if that is it's real name) were in fact irrefutably Irish."
It's back-to-school time, and for many Irish teenagers that means one thing: preparation for the Leaving Cert, the dreaded exam that determines what college places students may pursue. Frustrated at the lack of good online study resources, one girl has created her own helpful site, Guide to the Leaving Cert 2000. This is one resource that exam students shouldn't miss. The site's creator, Louise, got good exam results herself, and she's posted resources across an assortment of subjects: look up exam questions in European and Irish history, German, maths, English, chemistry and more. A discussion board, which lets anyone post comments, is already well-populated with remarks and requests from students. Excellent stuff!
Anyone heading to Ireland for a budget holiday will love Hostel Ireland, a brand new site that takes live, confirmed bookings for hostels all across the country. A bulletin board lets travellers post or search through messages, and the most common tourist question - "What will the weather be like?" - is answered in great detail in a weather area, which even includes a converter for Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures. There's plenty of information on the hostels themselves, too, including pricing, pictures, listings of amenities, and an indication of which hostels have availability. For backpackers, this site is a definite must.
Budget holiday-makers may not have much extra cash for entertainment, but well-shod tourists and locals alike will be delighted to see Ticketmaster online at last in Ireland. Visitors can get a full listing of concerts, comedy, sports and family events, and can also select and pay for their seats directly through the web site. A 'Most Popular' list of events is also included, and there's the facility to search by date or by city, including cities in Northern Ireland. A quick keyword search pane on the front page comes in handy - search for 'ballet' or 'orchestra' to quickly locate the kind of event you'd like. The Irish market has been rather starved for useful sites like this, and despite Ticketmaster's controversial reputation worldwide, many locals will be happy to see them online.
It's one of the last Irish property agents to join the party, but Sherry FitzGerald has a laudable site nonetheless. Choose an area of Ireland from a clickable map, enter price and other details, and view matching properties to rent or purchase. A one-click feature leads to a finance page with typical mortgage repayments on a 7 percent lending rate, but the rate, repayment period and other features can be changed by the user. A mailback feature lets visitors get email alerts every time a new matching property is added to the database. A useful site - pity about the prices.