Cell phones in Ireland

How about providing us with a bit more information? Do any of you have world cellphones now (GSM)? Are you only interested in making local calls or are you intending to call back to the US, as well? Probably the easiest solution would be to buy prepaid phones once you get there. They will have local numbers, and will probably come with enough call credit to last you for your whole trip (if you are just calling each other). Another solution would be to buy local SIM cards for any phones you have that are both GSM and unlocked. Another alternative would be to use your home provider's international plan if one is available. That would be the most expensive and least workable choice, but it is a choice.

Thank you, Nancy.

Some Verizon phones will work in Ireland. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 and it worked fine (iPhones won't do it). I picked up an international data plan ($25 for 100MB) and that worked as well. Phone costs can be expensive, since it's all roaming. If you get Skype on your phone, you can use that to call for two cents a minute wherever you can find wireless access (which is all over the place).

You haven't mentioned whether you will be visiting Northern Ireland - this has a totally different set of mobile networks from those in the Republic of Ireland. Not so much of an issue if you are using your own phone but if you have built a 'local' SIM for one country you will be roaming in the other (you might find yourself accidentally doing this in border areas). This will still probably be cheaper than roaming on a US SIM though.

My husband & I traveled to Ireland in 2011 and we were able to purchased a prepaid cell phone at the airport. The little shop that we bought it from got it all set up for us to use (minus the code). We called Minnesota from Killarney Ireland and had no phone issues whatsoever. The sound was good and my parents were able to hear us well. Have fun on your trip!

Patricia, find a Cell Phone Warehouse when you arrive. Tell them exactly what you want, where you will be going, and they will give a range of options, prices, and then set your phone up. They are wonderful. We arrived in London, and bought SIMS for our unlocked IPhones from the CPW there. We told them where we would be traveling in England and Ireland and I settled on TMobile SIMS for the phones. Each time we changed areas or countries, a text would pop up on my phone telling exactly what the costs would be. If we really wanted to be cheap, for our inter-party communications, we could have texted each other. You could buy a basic amount of time, data, and easily top it up on-the-go.

Thank you everyone, Information much appreciated.