Where to Watch Birds in Ireland
Clive Hutchinson: Buy from Amazon.co.uk

• Provides an up-to-date guide to the best places to watch birds in Ireland. The book gives details of 62 major sites and 81 others worthy of attention. The major sites have at least one map and are covered in considerable detail. The lesser sites are generally less well watched areas with potential for interesting birds. Introductory chapters provide a background to Ireland's avifauna and birdwatching in the North and the Republic. There is also advice on travel and accommodation and suggestions for one- and two-week trips. Clive Hutchinson has also written "Birds in Ireland" and was founder of the journal "Irish birds".

Bill Oddie's Birds of Britain and Ireland
Bill Oddie: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• This beginner's field guide to British birds contains realistic illustrations of each species. There are ten "confusion" pages which compare and contrast the species that are difficult to distinguish, and the last section of the book is devoted to 55 less-common and quite rare species.

Collins Bird Guide
Lars Svensson et al: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• Described by some as the best field guide in the world. Provides all the information needed to identify any species at any time of the year, with detailed text on size, habitat, range, identification and voice. Accompanying every species entry is a distribution map and numerous illustrations to show the species in all the major plumages (male, female, immature, in flight, at rest, feeding, etc).

Lonely Planet Ireland
F. Davenport, D. Hannigan: Buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

• This guide is packed cover to cover with information in an easy to access style. Best of all are the many town maps which mean that the location of everything, from the Post Office, to the Banks, to the Bars and Accomodation is clearly laid out before you. The county by county coverage is pretty comprehensive, but with a few ommisions of smaller places that could have been included.