WiFi in Ireland, GPS work with I phone and Verizon?

I can tell you this much. If you have Verizon Mobile you'll get a text upon landing in Dublin offering you the international plan. Very often they give you some free days and then upon expiration of the free period you start paying 10 Euros per day if you use a mobile network on that day (24 hour period). I guess you could avoid triggering this on any given day by keeping the phone on airplane mode so no mobile network is accessed. Then turning on wifi and connecting to specific hotspots such as at the hotels, etc.

Ireland has a GPS-based address system called Eircode. Get the Eircode for your BnB, and you should have no trouble locating it. There's an app you can download (eircode finder and route planner), but I suspect it also works with other map apps.

We drove a rental car around the entire Republic, and Google Maps worked flawlessly to get us everywhere we wanted to go. It requires a data plan, though, obviously. And if one has a reasonable data plan, wifi becomes somewhat irrelevant.

Call Verizon and inquire about their data plans for international travel. They do have the $10 a day plan I believe, but I opted for something different for our 1.5 week trip as it made more sense for me, but cannot recall what it was off the top of my head. You give a start date and end date. With that, we had excellent service and used phone for navigation and and internet access even in the remote places. There is of course WiFi too in hotels, etc. that you could access.
Edit: Just checked and it looks like I opted for the $100 1 month international plan (and got $12 discount on it). I think I went with this since it was unlimited data, etc. and would cost about the same as a daily plan for us given the length of our trip. Just make sure others in your party on the same plan as you have their phones in airplane mode.

It's funny how half this forum has decided that $100 per month additional (or $10-12 per day), is what everyone needs to pay for international cellphone coverage. When I had AT&T, it was an additional $50 per month. Now that I use a Tmobile Magenta plan ($35/month), I get slow data (256 kbps) in 214 countries, and free texting and calling, all for free. My wife wanted normal high speed data, so she paid $50 for a month of that, with a Tmobile add-on. When we were in Ireland last year, the slow data was fast enough for me, for no extra money. The high-speed data worked fine for her.

I didn't need high speed data as I've been using Organic Maps instead of Google, because Organic Maps doesn't need an internet connection, just pre-downloaded maps. But that doesn't sound like a good option for you. It sounds like you mean turn-by-turn driving directions, like your car at home. I've read here that adding that sort of GPS to a rental car can be a costly option. The GPS part of the system works just like at home to find your position, that's all free. It's the moving maps that's the issue.

I do agree with everyone that having our own "normal" cellphone number is extremely useful, rather than asking all our friends to start using another app or to use a Google Voice phone number for us.

There are firms (e.g. Ubigi) that sell an eSim that only provides a data plan - it works with your existing phone number. If you make a call while not on wifi, you'll get charged by your carrier their daily rate unless you use whatsup or skype etc.

I always change to a local phone number while traveling in Ireland. I used to buy a Giffgaff esim in advance of my trip, but the EU changed the rules, so they don't work in IE unless you have been in the UK recently. Next month I'm planning to get a Three esim upon arriving in Dublin for 10 euros for 30 days. A local number means I don't get the endless stream of political texts and spam calls. I leave a voice message on my home number with cryptic instructions that only friends could understand on how to reach me. More importantly, when I make dinner reservations, etc. I'm not asking the business to make a long-distance call to confirm. I worry a bit about running into a two-level authorization for some unplanned transaction, but that hasn't happened in years of travel. I do wish the esim was available before the trip so I could update some contacts, but that's apparently not available from Irish carriers.

jjgurley, really good point about getting spam calls on your "normal" phone number. Great idea about leaving a cryptic message.

For a trip to Ireland, I was able to buy a GiffGaff sim on Ebay for $1.37 (shipped from Paris, took 15 days to arrive). It worked fine in Ireland, but after a month or more it cut off roaming as I had not been in the U.K. I also bought a Three sim on Ebay for $7.40. Activation for both while in the U.S. was no problem. I still use the Three sim in a backup phone, but calls and text would be a bit expensive.

As for 2 factor authentication, good point, that could be a big problem if something goes wrong. I have been able to do 2FA by email for most accounts, and I used to get texts to my normal number with wifi calling, if I was using a Swiss sim card.

I believe that the GPS feature of your phone will work even if the phone is in "Airplane Mode." I don't think a phone plan is even required. You must download the local maps for your mapping app when you have a wifi connection, (at home or when connected with the hotel wifi). This worked great so long as I had the map and location stored on the phone. I did this in the past when I was more concerned about to cost than the continuous connectivity. My circumstances have changed and I need to be constantly reachable. (My beloved spouse and I are caregivers for her parents in assisted living/memory care.). The cost of the international phone plan is now just part of the trip.

I believe that the GPS feature of your phone will work even if the phone is in "Airplane Mode." I don't think a phone plan is even required. You must download the local maps for your mapping app when you have a wifi connection, (at home or when connected with the hotel wifi).

All true. You won't get turn-by-turn navigation, though. May be unimportant for some folks.