Tipping in Ireland?

Fully explained on pg 15 & 16 of Rick's Ireland travel guide, I hear his books are pretty good

You do not need to give a tip at all at bars and meals like in pubs etc. If the barman has made a great evening just offer to buy him/her a drink. For restaurants with a tableclith and a waiter who has the time to talk you through the menu then tip ONLY if you get very good service and never more than 10%
You do not need to tip room maids of your hotel room either. You can get by not tipping at all in Ireland, perhaps just rounding up taxi fares. Nobody is going to come running after you if you do not tip and 99 times out of 100 you won't receive any better service by tipping.

Having said that, in tourist areas or hotels like Marriott frequented by Americans the sound of an American accent may signal to someone the possibility of a windfall tip. If you tip the 15% or 20% you do at home you will not get any better treatment than someone from countries without a tipping culture like in Asia and New Zealand who never seem to tip at all in the UK and Ireland.
If you feel uncomfortable not tipping then do so if it makes you feel better.

In tourist areas some restaurants are starting to put a tip on the bill in a restaurant without asking, especially if there is a group.
It is routine for locals to send the bill back and insist on a bill without the gratuity which they are entitled to do.

I think this practise is happening also in reverse in the US, especially in Orlando restaurants where locals are fed up with North Europeans not tipping at all, because they don't know nay better.

The only time I tried to tip in Ireland was in a pub where we had dinner (a group of three adults and four kids). The waitress came running after us to tell us that we had "forgotten" our change.