Everyday practical information for Ireland

Power and connectivity

• Plug type G at 230 V, 50 Hz, the same three rectangular pins as the UK. A European two-pin plug will not fit and there is no workaround but an adapter.
• Buy the adapter before you fly. At Dublin Airport it is EUR 15 for what costs EUR 3 at home.
• Free public Wi-Fi is normal in cafes, pubs, hotels and on most intercity trains and buses.

Hours

• Pubs serve until 23:30 Monday to Thursday, 00:30 Friday and Saturday, and 23:00 on Sunday, with thirty minutes drinking-up time. Late bars and clubs go on to 02:30 with a special licence.
• Shops open around 09:00 and close at 18:00, later on Thursdays in Dublin. Sunday trading is typically 12:00 to 18:00 and much reduced in small towns.
• Good Friday is no longer dry but many pubs still close, and Christmas Day closes essentially everything including public transport.
• Restaurants stop taking orders earlier than in southern Europe. A 21:30 booking in a small town is optimistic.

Language and manners

• English is universal. Irish is the first official language and appears on every road sign, and in Gaeltacht areas of Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Donegal the road signs are in Irish only. Know the Irish name of your destination before you drive into Connemara.
• Ordering a round is a genuine social obligation in a pub. If someone buys you a drink, you buy the next one.
• Nobody tips at the bar and doing so marks you out immediately.
• Smoking has been banned indoors since 2004, including pubs. Vaping follows the same rule in most places.

Public holidays

• Ireland has ten: 1 January, the first Monday of February (St Brigid's Day), 17 March (St Patrick's Day), Easter Monday, the first Monday of May, June and August, the last Monday of October, 25 December and 26 December (St Stephen's Day).
• St Patrick's Day is not a normal day out. Dublin is full, hotels triple, and the parade shuts the city centre to traffic.
• Bank holiday Mondays fill the west coast. Book anything in Kerry, Clare or Galway well ahead of them.

Small things that help

• Distances are in kilometres and speed in km/h in the Republic, and in miles north of the border.
• "How are you?" is a greeting, not a question. The answer is "grand".
• The weather forecast is on met.ie and is accurate to about six hours, which is as good as it gets here.
• VAT is 23% on most goods and non-EU visitors can reclaim it on purchases taken home, through the retailer's tax-free scheme at the airport.