Getting around Ireland: transport and apps

Public transport

• Iarnrod Eireann runs the trains, radiating from Dublin to Cork, Galway, Limerick, Belfast, Sligo and Waterford. Dublin to Cork is about 2h30, Dublin to Galway about 2h20.
• Book online in advance and it is dramatically cheaper. Walk-up Dublin to Cork can be EUR 70 or more; the advance fare is often under EUR 25. There are only so many cheap seats per train.
• Bus Eireann covers what the railway does not, which is most of the country. It is slower and much cheaper.
• Dublin has the DART along the coast and two Luas tram lines, green and red, which do not usefully interchange. Leap works on all of it.
• Download TFI Live and the Irish Rail app. Real-time bus information in Ireland is genuinely useful and printed timetables are not.

Ride hailing and taxis

• Uber exists but dispatches licensed taxis at the regulated meter fare, so there is no saving, only convenience.
• FREE NOW is the app locals use and has far better coverage outside Dublin.
• Taxis are metered and honest by international standards. Every legal taxi shows a roof sign and a driver ID card on the dashboard.
• Book ahead on a Friday or Saturday night. In Dublin after midnight the wait can be 40 minutes and in smaller towns there may be two cars working.

Hiring a car, and the thing that catches people

This is the most expensive decision on an Irish trip and it is made at the counter, tired, after a flight.

• Collision Damage Waiver is included in the headline price, but the excess left on you is typically EUR 1,500 to EUR 2,500, and EUR 3,000 to EUR 4,000 if you are under 25.
• The rental desk sells Super CDW at EUR 15 to EUR 30 a day to remove it. Standalone excess insurance bought before you travel does the same job for about EUR 3 a day.
• Most non-European credit card rental cover explicitly excludes the Republic of Ireland. If you plan to rely on your card, bring a printed letter from the issuer that names Ireland. Desks in Dublin and Shannon ask for it and refuse the card without it.
• A large deposit is held on a credit card, not a debit card, for the amount of the excess.
• Under 25 costs an extra EUR 15 to EUR 35 a day on top of everything else.

Driving

• Ireland drives on the left, in right-hand drive cars, with roundabouts taken clockwise.
• Speed limits are in km/h in the Republic and mph in Northern Ireland. The signs change at an unmarked border.
• Rural roads are narrower than you expect. A road marked yellow on the map can be one car wide with stone walls on both sides and a 80 km/h limit that nobody sane uses.
• The M50 around Dublin is barrier free. Cameras read the plate and you must pay by 20:00 the following day at eflow.ie or a Payzone shop. Miss it and the fine escalates, and the rental company will bill you an administration fee on top.
• Every other toll road takes cash or card at a barrier.