Cycletouring in Ireland

The official youth hostel network has shrunk considerably in th past few years, but in most tourist areas an independent hostel network has sprung up to fill the gap. The Midlands excepted, it is pretty much possible to get around the whole country using hostels, although their might be a few longer-than-average days on the road. For my picks see six brilliant hostels

Youth Hostels
The official youth hostels organisations are Hostelling International Northern Ireland (HINI) in the North and An Oige in the Republic. An Oige produce a map which includes the northern hostels. Pick one up at the first hostel (north/south) you stay at - it is very handy if you are a make-it-up-as-you-go type of traveller.
You don't need a membership card to stay but a card from a Hostelling International organisation (such as the YHA in England) will secure you a discount. The hostels will also generally accept the membership card as a key deposit/piece of identification which saves a lot of stuffing around with passports and so on.
Overall the standards at the 'official' hostels are consistently good.

Independent Hostels
Most independent hostels in Ireland (both bits) are members of either Independent Holiday Hostels of Ireland (IHH) or the Independent Hostel Owners of Ireland (IHO). These organisations each put out an annual map so if you pick up these two maps at hostels or tourist offices, plus the An Oige one - you pretty much have a complete picture.
Many of these hostels allow camping in the grounds, so you can save a few pennies and still take advantage of the hostel facilities.
Some of the independents are brilliant, others are a bit more eclectic and don't really feel like hostels at all, but standards are generally very good. I tend to prefer the 'official' hostels in the big cities because, in my opinion, minimum standards are maintained more rigourously in the An Oige and HINI hostels - but I stress this is personal and I suggest you talk to your fellow travellers for tips on where to stay in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway.