This map should give you good idea of how far I generally travel from my two bases. It's not an exact guide - it's just a general indication.
Counties covered include Cavan, Monaghan, Louth, Meath, Kildare and Dublin.
Northern Monaghan and west Cavan are not on the map but are within my preferred coverage area.
I will also travel to the south Down and South Armagh areas of Northern Ireland.
Naturally, if I can do most of your work at my place, and we communicate by Email and telephone, then distance is really no object.
If you want me to travel beyond the overage of the map, we can strike a deal allowing for any extra travelling time and any possible local overnight accommodation etc. There is more information in the FAQ.
Locating you without Post Codes ....
If you are not in a town or city with a house number, I like to pin down your exact location using http://maps.google.com ... As you talk me through the directions to your place I follow them on the screen. When I have located your position on the screen, I right click on that spot and then select "What's Here". An arrow appears at your location and your exact latitude and longitude coordinates appear at the top of the page. I enter these coordinates into my satellite navigation system (Satnav) and I can then drive to your door.
If you know your coordinates you can enter them on the contact page when filling in the form.
Don't worry - your location is NOT stored on the Google website. If you carry out the above procedure yourself and write down the coordinates of your place, you will never have to worry about giving tricky directions to couriers, tradesmen etc. again. Just give them your coordinates! If you have a Satnav yourself you should be able to read your absolute exact coordinates. This way is more accurate than trying to estimate your precise location on Google Maps where you could be out by 30 - 250 meters.
Until An Post catch up with the rest of the world, by introducing post codes, coordinates are your best alternative (and in many ways better). Every business that wants to be found should publish their coordinates on a website. Maps and directions are fine but coordinates are essential. The best format to use is ddd.dddddd - In other words, use degrees only and avoid minutes & seconds which are fractions of a degree.
Using Google Maps, try to find the coordinates for The Spire in O'Connell Street, Dublin. You should get something like this .... 53.349721,-6.260299
Don't worry about the last two digits in the figures above (21 & 99). They will vary greatly even if you move the mouse on your screen a tiny bit. They only represent a few meters anyway. Besides, most Satnavs will only take five digits after the decimal point.
The minus sign beside the 6.2 actually means six degrees West, so just make sure that you select W (for West) on your Satnav device when entering coordinates. If you ignore the minus sign, west becomes east you will wind up in Holland. The actual coordinates as you would read them out to someone would be: N 53.349721 , W 6.260299 ................. You can safely shorten that to: N 53.34972 , W 6.26029
A few more things about Google Maps ....
Instead of having to start off in North America every time you use Google Maps, you can store the town nearest you as the starting point.
If someone gives you a set of coordinates you can enter them into Google Maps and and click "Search Maps" and the location will be pinpointed.
oooOOOooo
An even better solution to indicating your exact location is to use a PON code. This is a new post code system for Ireland. They can be programmed to work with Garmin Nuvi 7 series SatNav units. PON codes are not yet officially approved by any Irish government body, but hopefully that will happen soon at they are becoming very popular.
