About Ireland

Currency: The Republic of Ireland is part of the European Union. Their currency is the euro. It is not necessary to get travelers cheques or change money into euros before arriving in the country. Most ATM cards issued by US banks will work in the Irish ATMs and will disperse the money in euros. There are ATM’s present in both Shannon and Dublin airports. ATMs are also available in most Irish towns. Mastercard, Visa and American Express cards are widely accepted as well.

Local Time: Ireland is on GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) which is five hours ahead of EST (Eastern Standard Time) in the U.S.

Mobile Phones: Ireland uses GSM cellular networks. The only two service providers in the US which use GSM networks are AT&T and T mobile. Everyone else in the US uses CDMA networks, which are incompatible with GSM. Please check with your wireless provider to see if your cell phone can be configured to work in the Republic of Ireland and what the fees will be to do so. Even if you have a GSM configured phone the fees can often be quite high!

Weather: The average temperature in Ireland in late April to early May is 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit. (Though if you check in Ireland, temperatures will be reported in Celsius.) Dressing in layers seems to work best. You should definitely bring a warm sweater, some sort of rain gear with a hat (umbrellas tend to get blown inside out more often than not) and some comfortable, sensible walking shoes.

Electricity: Current is at 220 volts in Ireland. If you would like to bring electrical equipment which supports dual voltage, such as a computer or an ipod, all you will to bring is a plug adaptor configured for Ireland. (3 square pins) Often such items will say 120/240 V and 50/60 Hz some where on them. If the equipment is not capable of handling dual voltage, you may need a power converter or transformer.

Take a look at some of our Ireland photos!