Ireland: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Ireland feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 413 written places.
Talk is the national sport; self-deprecation and craic outrank formality everywhere.
✓ Considered polite
- Chat back - weather remarks from strangers are invitations, not intrusions
- Buy your round in the pub without being asked
- Accept tea when offered - refusing takes at least two polite rounds
- Slow down on rural roads and lift a finger from the wheel to wave
✗ Better avoided
- Call Ireland part of Britain
- Order an Irish Car Bomb cocktail - the name lands terribly here
- Expect efficiency to beat friendliness - conversations have right of way
- Skip live music sessions - the unticketed pub kind is the real thing
Worth knowing
- Tipping is 10% for table service, nothing at the bar
- Cards and contactless work everywhere
- Rural buses are infrequent - a car unlocks the west coast
- Museums run by the state are mostly free
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.