Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Ireland, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Ireland and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Ireland
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Ireland:
- 38.815655, -80.461754
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Ireland
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Lewis County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for Lewis County
- Since Ireland is near Braxton County and also Upshur County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Braxton County
- eBird sighting report for Upshur County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Ireland ...
We found nine communities that share the name Ireland.
Within West Virginia, the name Ireland is unique.
Beyond West Virginia, we know of another nine communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these nine communities, seven are located in the United States and three are in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Indiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- New Hampshire
- Nova Scotia
- This Ireland lies 1,043 miles [1,678.5 km]<1> to the east northeast of the Ireland that is located in Lewis County.
- Ohio
- Ontario
- Texas
- Washington
Curious and Interesting Names Near Ireland ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Arnold
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north) - Bulltown
(5 miles [8 km] to the west) - Falls Mill
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falls Mill
- Falls Mill is located in Braxton County
- Gregory
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest) - Jewell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast) - Joppa
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest) - Little Wildcat ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Wildcat have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Wildcat
- Little Wildcat is located in Lewis County
- Rock Cave
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Cave
- Rock Cave is located in Upshur County
- Walkersville
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Walkersville have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walkersville
- Walkersville is located in Lewis County
- Wildcat ‑ Historic
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
How Far From Ireland to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Ireland to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Ireland and extending to:
- Weston, which is the Seat of Lewis County, lies 15 miles [24.1 km]<1> to the north. If you could walk a straight line from Ireland to Weston, with an average speed<5> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take four to five hours.
- Charleston, which is the State Capital of West Virginia, lies 70 miles [112.7 km] to the west southwest (WSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take less than two hours, a buggy would take about three full days and walking would take three full days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 184 miles [296.1 km] to the east (E). Driving would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 8 days and walking would take 11 days.
- The shortest distance<6> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,044 miles [9,726.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,757 miles [10,874.3 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,633 miles [7,456.1 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Ireland. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for State of West Virginia: https://www.wv.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Ireland) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ireland. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 38.8157, Longitude: -80.4618 In this case, the coordinates for Ireland have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Ireland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Ireland could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <6> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Ireland to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <7> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 309.939 degrees. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.759 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 306.204 degrees. |