DoChara.com is primarily an Unofficial Guide to Ireland, providing unbiased information, advice and tips for anyone who plans to visit Ireland.

The aim is to give visitors to Ireland the sort of information a friend would, about the good, the bad and the indifferent, the hidden places and the tourist traps, where to find value and how to avoid being ripped off.

There are also quite a few general articles about Ireland and the Irish which are not directly related to travel, though many of them will help visitors to get a feel for the Ireland that exists away from the tourist brochures.

How it Began

The site happened almost by accident.

Katherine Nolan

I met lots of people from America, Canada, South Africa, Australia and other far flung places while participating in various Internet forums. Of course I didn’t actually ‘meet’ any of them, in the face-to-face sense, at first.

Some of these people planned trips to Ireland, or their friends did. So I gave them some tips before they visited. They found the tips useful and other people, friends of these friends, started to get in touch.

It began to get out of hand!

So back in 2004 I decided to put all the stuff together, add to it regularly and make it available to everyone as DoChara.com.

In my day job (yes, this is just an out of control hobby!), I work as a web developer and own InKK Design.

Stuff People Ask us About

What does “Do Chara” mean?

The name was chosen because “Do Chara” means “your friend” in Irish.

It’s pronounced duh-kahr-ah. The site is intended to be your Irish friend.

Why is DoChara Different

DoChara is a different sort of site for visitors to Ireland, because it’s personal advice, tips and information from an ordinary Irish person, basically the sort of stuff a friend would tell you.

• I do NOT belong to any tourism body
  and am therefore in a position to be critical when criticism is warranted
• I do NOT sell any tourism product
  and so can remain entirely objective about those who do

My only loyalty is to users of the site

Who writes it? Who decides what to include?

I write most of it, edit all of it and have the final say on what’s in and what’s out.

I listen very carefully to what users of the site have to say and take heed of feedback from lots of people who have visited Ireland in the past.

Many, many other people from all around Ireland and beyond help enormously by generously sharing their expertise in specific subjects or their valuable local or insider knowledge.

More Questions?

You can ask a question here or contact me and I’ll do my best to answer.