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We have outlined some visitor information that
will be useful for you prior to and after your arrival. Ireland
has a wealth of attractions and plenty to offer the visitor,
we hope you will find The Irishguide helpful when planning your
travels. For further information please follow the links on
the left or click here for more Information
on living and working Ireland.
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The currency of Ireland is the Irish Pound (£) or Punt. The
note denominations are: £5, £10, £20, £50, £100. The coin denominations
are: 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1. Ireland, as part of the
European Union, is soon to introduce the Euro as its currency,
you can already transact here in Euro's by Cheque and Bank Transfer
or Draft. as a rough guide 1 Euro is equivilent to 1.27 Irish
pence. For comparision to other currencies, please use our Currency
Converter
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Banks in Ireland are open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4.30pm
(in rural area's most Banks close at 3pm or 4pm). Many Banks
operate a Bureau De Change for converting currency.
Banks in larger towns usually have cash machines. However, non
Irish cards may not work at all banks particularly the small
building societies which are equivalent to American savings
banks. Cash machines at the large banks (Allied Irish, Bank
of Ireland, Ulster Bank) are part of the international networks
and will accept most major debit cards. The exchange rates at
cash machines are usually as good or better than at the exchange
desks. But this is often dependent upon your own bank and you
will not know the rate until you receive your statement.
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For the latest weather report we recommend the Irish
Times Weather section.
For general weather statistics, click
here.
Temperates in Ireland are usually given in Celsius. A rough
rule of thumb for converting from Celsius to Fahrenheit is to
double the Celsius number and add 32 to get a good estimate
of the Fahrenheit temperature. Rainfall is often shown in millimeters.
The rough conversion is to divide the millimeters by 25 to get
inches. 75 millimeters is about 3 inches.
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Hotels are graded by Bord Failte - The Irish Tourist Board,
and are allocated stars according to their facilities. A 5*
Hotel is the Highest Grading and will have Luxurious facilities.
A 4* Hotel will have High to Luxurious Facilities and a 3* Hotel
will be well appointed but with less luxurious facilities.
There are several 4* and 3* Guesthouses which are really smaller
hotels but are well appointed and have good facilities.
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Ireland has some of the best restaurants and hotel catering
in Europe. Most hotels include excellent restaurants, some
of the best in the country. European, continental and international
cuisines as well as Irish specialties and our superb seafood
are all available. If you have arranged your own holiday,
you will be free to choose from our many restaurants, pubs
and eateries during your stay.
Most accommodations include breakfast but if you do not always
fancy a large traditional Irish breakfast, you can usually
choose from a variety of fruits and cereals in a continental
breakfast. Many restaurants offer vegetarian options and some
that specialize in vegetarian food are excellent. If you have
these or other special food requirements it best to check
ahead with the hotel or restaurant.
Very few Irish hotels, guesthouses or B&Bs have kitchen
facilities in the room though many will have an electric teapot
for your own afternoon spot of tea. If you would like to stay
in accommodations that include kithchens, check our self
catering section.
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There are plenty of payphones in every town and village around
the country. You can either use a coin phone or card phone.
Phone cards can be purchased from nearly all newsagents, tourist
locations or telephone centres in the main Cities and Towns.
Dial 11811 for Directory Enquiries from any telephone. The call
is Charged. Dial 10 for operator services, 114 for international
calls (ex Britain)
A full list of International dialing codes is available in each
phone box. If you call home from a hotel you will pay a higher
rate for your call than from a public payphone. You can also
purchase prepaid calling cards from Sprint, Call Home and a
number of other companies. These cards offer Cheaper rate calls
than Eircom (The state telephone company) and are available
from Newsagents and most service stations nationwide.
Most European mobile phones will work in Ireland if you have
the appropriate agreement with your service provider. American
mobile or cell phones do NOT work in Europe including Ireland
because they are based on different standards. One exception
is Motorla phones connected through the Nextel system. These
still require the appropriate service agreement with Nextel.
For information on calling into Ireland, please see our section
on Calling Ireland.
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Emergency services can be contacted by dialling 999 or 112 on
any payphone, Irish Telephone or Mobile Telephone. The call
is free. You must state your name clearly, location and the
emergency service you require. Prank or hoax calls, as in many
countries are taken very seriously and is punishable by law.
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Our Electrical current is 220V - 240V AC. Travel electrical
converters are available at most tourist shops or at any Airport
or Ferry Terminal. Some hotels have adapters for Telephone,
PC and Standard electrical appliances for your use. Many portable
personal computers include power supplies that will work directly
of of European current with a simple plug adapter. Check your
documentation or with the manufacturer
Our Video Format is PAL which will not work on most American
VCRs.
Audio cassettes and CDs are based on international standards
and are therefore compatable. Bring some Irish music home!
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Please see our section on Driving
in Ireland.
We have also provided a large map of Ireland with some chosen
locations charted. This may take a few moments to load, so please
be patient. Once you have opened the map you can go back to
The Irishguide, the map will then be stored on your cache. You
can view main arteries to our larger cities, (Dublin, Cork,
Limerick, Galway,Belfast) and also view national and regional
roads, rivers, airports, towns and villages. Please click here
to view
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Ireland