My experience of the Irish blogosphere over the past number of years has been as more of an outsider looking in. Unfortunately I don’t have as much time as I’d like to post to my blog, interact on Twitter, or attend events and conferences. I do, however, read my favourite blogs on a daily basis using Google Reader, and have a read through the latest Twitter posts by those I follow every few hours.

If you are new to the Irish blogging community, you may be wondering how to start finding blogs that are of interest to you. A good place to start is Twitter – almost all of Ireland’s most influential bloggers are using the microblogging service, and most will post links to their blog updates as soon as they post them. I have included Twitter usernames, where available, for each of the bloggers I mention below. The following list is by no means exhaustive – but keeping track of these blogs is a good start to getting to know the Irish blogosphere. You will find many other interesting Irish blogs by reading these blogs and the comments visitors leave on each post. Many of these bloggers post frequent lists of links to interesting blog posts from the around the Irish blogosphere – for example, Damien Mulley’s “Fluffy Links”, Alexia Golez’s “Red Links” and Joe Scanlon’s “Little Links”. These are a great way to find your way around, so I highly recommend checking them out.

Robin Blandford

Web: http://www.bytesurgery.com/blog/
RSS: http://www.bytesurgery.com/blog/feed/
Topics: Technology, Design, Blogging, Business, Media
Twitter: @robinb

Robin Blandford

Suzy Byrne

Web: http://www.mamanpoulet.com/
RSS: http://www.mamanpoulet.com/feed/
Topics: Current Affairs, Politics, Equality, Blogging
Twitter: @suzybie

Suzy Byrne

Tommy Collison

Web: http://trusttommy.com/
RSS: http://trusttommy.com/feed/
Topics: Technology, Blogging, Science, iPhone
Twitter: @TrustTommy

Tommy Collison

Sabrina Dent

Web: http://www.sabrinadent.com/
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/SabrinaDent
Topics: Design, Internet Marketing, Advertising, Politics, Technology
Twitter: @SabrinaDent

Sabrina Dent

Alexia Golez

Web: http://golez.net/
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/alexiablogs/TBag
Topics: Politics, Photography, Business, Culture, Blogging
Twitter: @lexia

Alexia Golez

“Grandad” (Head Rambles)

Web: http://www.headrambles.com/
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HeadRambles
Topics: Blogging, Current Affairs, Politics, Technology
Twitter: @headrambles

"Grandad" (Head Rambles)

Niall Harbison

Web: http://www.niallh.com/
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NiallHarbisoncom
Topics: Business, Enterprise, Food, Blogging, Twitter, Video
Twitter: @NiallHarbison

Niall Harbison

Twenty Major

Web: http://twentymajor.net/
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/twentymajor
Topics: Politics, Satire, Current Affairs, Comedy
Twitter: @twentymajor

Twenty Major

Damien Mulley

Web: http://mulley.net
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DamienMulley
Topics: Politics, Blogging, Communications, Broadband, Internet Marketing
Twitter: @damienmulley

Damien Mulley

Pat Phelan

Web: http://patphelan.net
RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/RoamFree
Topics: Telecommunications, Mobile Phones, Roaming, Technology, Innovation
Twitter: @patphelan

Pat Phelan

Joe Scanlon

Web: http://joescanlon.net/
RSS: http://joescanlon.net/feed/
Topics: Business, Technology, Blogging, Twitter, UCC, Events
Twitter: @joescanlon

Joe Scanlon

Gavin Sheridan

Web: http://www.gavinsblog.com/
RSS: http://www.gavinsblog.com/feed/
Topics: Politics, Current Affairs, Technology
Twitter: @gavinsblog

Gavin Sheridan

Why not contribute to the Irish blogging community by starting your own blog? There are various sites out there offering free or inexpensive hosted blog solutions that you can set up in minutes, without having to get your hands dirty with any technical work. These include:

• WordPress.com
• TypePad
• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• Windows Live Spaces
• Tumblr

Alternatively, you can bring your own hosting and domain name and install one of the following software packages which will allow you to configure and tinker your blog to your exact requirements:

• WordPress
• Movable Type
• b2evolution
• Serendipity
• Drupal

All of the above blog services and software packages are relatively easy to use, self explanatory and include excellent documentation that will help you get your blog up and running in no time. If you want any advice on starting a blog or technical guidance on setting up any of the above, feel free to drop me a line on joe at this domain.