M50 Toll and CAr Rental in Ireland

1) Since you have Rick's 2011 book, check page 50 "Go With the E-Flow" for a discussion of the M50 toll. 2) Check page 452 for a discussion of renting a car and insurance options.
Ultimately the decision is yours, but personally I feel better paying the additional and having the broadest possible coverage. Good luck.

Thanks, Charlotte!

FYI a second driver cost an additional fee. Ask about that if it's relevant. Get the CDW, and theft and 3rd party if that's part of the deal. Make sure you're not on the hook if the car is out of service due to an accident and you have to cover the lost revenue while it's being repaired. My credit card provides pretty good coverage but it can be, depending on local voodoo rules paid after the fact.

Thanks, Neighbor! My cards, Visa and Discover cover almost all countries, and I have never had to go through this, but both specifically EXCLUDE Ireland (And Jamaica, Italy and 1 other). Suggest checking yours to be safe. I was aware of the 2nd driver, thanks.

We just returned from our trip of 4 adults. A few thoughts after our experience: 1) Don't just go by the price quoted on the car rental website. I emailed Dan Dooley to ask for suggestions on car sizes and pricing. The car size (Ford Focus) was perfect for us. In addition, the price quoted was so much less than the website even with a discount code. I paid less than if I had rented in the US for the same amount of time. 2) We had 2 drivers, CDW insurance, and the excess damage insurance which kept our deductible to 100 Euro. After driving along narrow roads with trucks and buses passing....do not skimp on the insurance. We didn't encounter the potholes described by others but.... 3) M50 tolls were really simple. We drove from Dublin to Galway and encountered two tolls. The M50 just took our tag number. We then had to either go on-line to pay or stop at a designated place to pay the 3 Euro toll. Very simple. The second toll was a cash toll booth - 1.20-1.80 Euro (?). Think of the M50 as their beltway around the city of Dublin.

The M50 toll was not difficult. The places where you stop to pay are easy to find, usually gas stations. The other times were toll booths. Our problem was the the new highways were not in our GPS and it didn't know where we were! The highways, however, are clearly marked and a nice driving break from the narrow, winding roads. We chose to buy the maximum insurance. We had never driven on the left side and preferred to know what our maximum output would be in the event of a wreck (especially when they upgraded us to a brand new car!). Be prepared for some creative driving! We noticed that the Irish tend to stop and park and walk away in some very strange situations.

Most of the M50 is toll free, the toll is for the West-Link bridge over the Shannon in the NW quadrant. We just got back from Ireland, our insurance costs exceeded our rental cost. I just consider it the cost of visiting/driving in Ireland. Do you really want to fight an accident claim in a foreign country under foreign laws?
Our two week total rental cost was $800, that's less than one plane ticket, there was 4 of us (800^4^2=100) a hundred bucks a week each to drive all over Ireland, well worth it to me. I know in the States you could do it for 1/4 of that but nothing is as cheep as in the States. Accept the cost and have a great holiday.