For those who have been to Ireland recently... are there plenty of payphones available in the western part of Ireland (Dingle, Lisdoovarna, Kinvara,Galway, Westport, Ennis, eg) so that all I need to do is get a phone card while there and not worry about renting a cell phone? Used to be that payphones would be very easily available everywhere, but now that people use cell phones they seem to have disapperaed (at least in the USA)... how is it in Ireland?
Thanks
Posted by
Westport, Ireland
80 posts
Payphones are quite rare in Ireland. We tend to use mobiles even more than our landlines.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
The last time I was in Ireland, we used payphones at gas station/convenience stores. Also, two of our B&Bs had phones available for use if you had a phone card (easily available at convenience stores).
Posted by
Westport, Ireland
80 posts
As Nancy mentioned, most B&B's will have no problems letting you use the phone with a phone card. Same with using phones in hotels. I rarely see phones in petrol stations here...at least not where I live.
Posted by
Puyallup, WA, USA
881 posts
Hey Debe. How's Westport?
Yes, from the first time I was there, to the last time, loooooads of pay phones have disappeared. I wouldn't consider their availability as reliable as I did in the past.
If you can get a cheap GSM cell phone thought (just find an old used one on craiglist or Ebay), SIM cards are cheap and sold everywhere.
Posted by
Saskatoon, Canada
45 posts
I used pay phones a lot when I was in Ireland and didn't find it too hard to find them - I was in Dingle, Galway, Westport, and two months of other places in Ireland.
Posted by
Westport, Ireland
80 posts
http://archives.tcm.ie/westernpeople/2009/01/28/story42758.asp
This just relates to Mayo, but other then large towns, they are fast becoming a thing of the past.
Posted by
Seattle
22 posts
I was there in August and I had a difficult time finding payphones. If you are visiting places like Dingle and Doolin it will be hard to find them. I found several in Dublin and Galway. Unless you feel like driving around in search of a payphone, I would get a cheap cell phone and buy an international calling card.