My husband and I just got back from a two week trip to Ireland, and had a wonderful time. I thought some of the Covid travel intel might be helpful.
Aer Lingus uses an app called VeriFly that not many people on our flights actually downloaded and used. It definitely saved us time and helped us to be prepared for all the requirements. Flying into Ireland required uploading photos of our CDC vaccination cards to the app and filling out Ireland's Passenger Locator Form (which is filled out online). A lot of people in line around us seemed very confused about the Passenger Locator Form, and the airline is not going to let you check in without seeing actual proof that you filled it out. Even though we used VeriFly we also brought print-outs of the form with us just in case. Flying into the US requires proof of a negative Covid test taken within 3 days of your flight home, and filing out a CDC attestation form about your Covid status. The CDC form seemed to be a total surprise for many people (again, filled it out in VeriFly but also took a printed copy with us). The airline had plenty of paper copies of the form, but almost everyone had to fill it out during the boarding process so boarding took a very long time. Showing the VeriFly app made boarding super easy for us.
A little more on our Covid test to return home experience: We used the eMed BinaxNOW test, which is self-administered with online supervision. It was very easy! Downloaded the app, logged into the website on a laptop, and was connected with a person for the online supervision very quickly. I did this early in the morning, as I'd heard from friends that the waiting time at night can be hours. The person supervising your test walks you through the process step by step, watching and listening to make sure you do each step correctly. After your swab is done the person starts a digital timer and then they log off to go to another call while you wait. When the timer hits 15 minutes a new supervisor logs on with you to check your test and confirm the results. The results are sent to the app and to your email.
Overall, Ireland felt safer than the US in terms of public Covid mitigation measures. We have lived very cautiously at home for the past year and a half, so wearing masks indoors has been our standard protocol for a long time and was no bother at all while there. Masks are required indoors almost everywhere you will be as a tourist. There is hand sanitizer absolutely everywhere, and almost everyone uses the suggested sanitizer when entering shops/restaurants/museums/etc. Physical distancing and one-way movement in stores seemed to be fairly well respected, and there are capacity limits and timed tickets to help keep the crowding down.
Dining- we chose to dine outdoors exclusively, and it seemed like many locals were also opting for outdoors much more frequently than indoors. We did see vaccination status checking for people who wanted to dine indoors, as only vaccinated people are allowed to dine inside right now. There are lots of covered patios, but in more populated places booking ahead is key, as they fill up fast. At one restaurant we tried three days in a row to get a table outside and only succeeded the third time by being very flexible on our dinner time. Contact tracing name & phone number are taken very seriously, at every restaurant and museum/tourist attraction we were asked for that information before entry (online pre-booking for restaurants helps with that step, since they collect that info at the time of booking).
We went to: Kinnitty, Galway, Youghal, Kilkenny, and Dublin. Most of our time was spent outdoors and we avoided most of the major tourist attractions. The one place that felt too crowded for comfort was Dublin, I might recommend skipping it during a raging pandemic because it was the only time I really felt stressed about trying to avoid Covid risks. Hope this helps other travelers!