So, my family is Irish Catholic and my mom and grandma are way into our Irish ancestry (they've researched the shit out of our genealogy and have traced it all the way back to before when we emigrated from Ireland. We came from Louth) and my mom would love to eventually take a trip to Ireland one of these days. I'm planning on taking her there once I graduate college next year but I really don't know the first thing about modern-day Ireland so I have quite a few questions...

Can anyone tell me what Ireland is like as far as being a tourist destination? (We'd be going for the history, not for the entertainment)
What are the main tourist cities/places?
Can anyone tell me anything about Louth?
What are the people like? Are they generally very friendly? Do a lot of the cities have areas where you're likely to get robbed if you're there at the wrong time?
What's the situation b/w the protestants & Catholics like? Do most people even give a shit whether you're either or?
Anything in particular one should keep in mind when planning a trip there?

Very laid back, a bit behind the times but in a good way. Has come a long way in recent years.

The whole religion thing shouldn't be an issue most places in the Republic- I'm English Protestant with an Irish Catholic girlfriend and have never had problems when I've been over there. Things may be a bit different in the North, ie. Belfast where there are Protestant/Irish estates, but if you just play "dumb tourist on nobody's side" then you'll be fine. Any problems you do get will literally be a bit of hassle from kids.

As a tourist destination, there is plenty. I only really know Dublin, which has plenty, and the rather non-descript towns that I have adopted family in. There are no huge attractions, but plenty of great pubs, things to see etc. Should be fine if you're all adults. Dublin is probably where you'll fly to and worth spending a good bit of time in, and Galway which is on the opposite coast is also definitely worth a visit. Try and find out when there are different events on if you're into films, literature etc.

Every city has rough areas, not noticed too much difference from the UK but don't know how things are where you are from. Most people are very friendly though, you'll be fine. Use common sense and ask the locals, but the crime rate is pretty low.

That's everything I can think of off the top of my head, I've never been to the North but can find out for you, although you're best off sticking to the Republic from what I've heard. Anything else you wanna know i can ask my other half.

As for a tourist destination, it's great. Historically you can find yourself stumbling over big green grass fields and investigating ruins of old houses and stuff, just imagining what it could be like back in the day.

So much of down south is worth it for that.