Ireland By Air Or Sea

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If you live in North America or anywhere else in the world, getting to Ireland by air is obviously the fastest way to reach your destination.

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If you live in the U.K. or mainland Europe, you have additional options in the form of ferry services.

Here are the options available to you whether getting to Ireland by air or sea as of January 2022.

To check on the Covid requirements needed for entry to Ireland from various countries, it is best to visit the Department of Foreign Affairs website.

From the United States

There are several ways to get to Ireland from the U.S. They include the following:

Aer Lingus

Ireland’s national airline flies from several U.S. cities to Ireland.

They include Boston, Chicago, Hartford, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York City, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

While Dublin is served on all of the above routes, Shannon is seasonal depending on the city you depart from.

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American Airlines

The airline flies from Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York, and Seattle to Dublin. From New York (JFK), it also flies to Shannon.

Delta

The airline flies to Ireland from New York (JFK), Dallas, and Atlanta. It does not fly to Shannon at this time.

United

The airline flies to Ireland from Chicago, Newark (both to Dublin and Shannon), and San Francisco.

Play

Play is a new low-cost Icelandic airline that flys from several cities in the U.S. including Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, NY, Boston, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. (Dulles International).

The airline flies into Dublin.

From the United Kingdom

There are several flights going into Ireland from the U.K. They include the following:

flight attendant giving box to people on plane — A couple on an Aer Lingus flight. Photo courtesy of Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus

The airline flies from Birmingham, London’s Gatwick and Heathrow airports, as well as Manchester and Southampton. You can get flights to Belfast, Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Kerry, and Shannon.

Other airlines flying into Ireland from the U.K. include British Airways, Cityjet, Flybe, Loganair, and Ryanair.

You can also easily get to Ireland from the U.K. by ferry. Here are your options:

There are three ferry companies that go between the U.K. and Ireland. They include Irish Ferries, P&O Ferries, and the Stena Line, providing close to 30 sailings per week.

One of the ferries in the Stena Line fleet, an option for UK travelers when deciding to visit Ireland by air or sea. Photo courtesy of Stena Line.

P&O Irish Sea operates from Liverpool to Dublin. The Stena Line operates four routes from the U.K. to the island of Ireland. They include the Cairnryan to Belfast, Liverpool to Belfast, Holyhead (Wales) to Dublin, and Fishguard (Wales) to Rosslare routes.

All of these options are ideal for British tourists who want to take their cars to Ireland on the ferry.

With the ratification of Brexit in 2020, there are some travel changes that apply to passengers entering Ireland from the U.K. Please keep the following information in mind as you make your travel plans to Ireland from the United Kingdom.

a passport Ireland by land or sea — Photo: Margolana for Getty Images Pro.

Passports

When it comes to producing appropriate identification upon arrival in Ireland, the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements have been protected.

This means that you can show any of the following pieces of ID when entering Ireland: a valid passport, a driver’s license with a photo, an international student car, a government-issued photographic ID car, a health insurance/social security photographic ID card, a bus or train pass with photo, a work photo ID, and a birth certificate for passengers under 18 who do not have any of the above photo IDs.

a car on the road Ireland by air or sea — Driving on Achill Island. Photo: Tourism Ireland.

Driving Requirements

Passengers arriving by sea to Ireland from the U.K. with a U.K.-registered vehicle must have a “green card” as evidence of insurance as they are no longer protected under the EU’s third-party insurance coverage.

You can get a green card from your insurance provider. Be sure to ask for it at least a month in advance of travel.

From Mainland Europe by Air

There are several airlines flying into Ireland from mainland Europe. One of the most popular is Ryanair.

Others include Air France, KLM, Iberia, Lufthansa, Finn Air, Tap Air Portugal, Scandinavian Air, and more.

From Mainland Europe by Sea

There are three ferry routes operating between France and Ireland, providing a total of eight sailings per week.

a ship in the ocean Ireland by air or sea — The Hola Galicia, one of the ships in the Brittany Ferries line, a doable option for European residents thinking about visiting Ireland by air or sea. Photo courtesy of Brittany Ferries.

They include Irish Ferries, Brittany Ferries, and the Stena Line.

The Irish Ferries route goes from Cherbourg, France to Dublin and runs three times weekly. The Brittany Ferries service goes from Roscoff to Cork and runs twice weekly. The Stena Line

operates the Cherbourg to Rosslare three times a week.

How to Get to Ireland from Canada

From Canada, travelers have a couple of different options, including the following:

a plane on the ground Ireland by air or sea — Image courtesy of Air Canada.

Aer Lingus – the airline operates a direct service from Toronto to Dublin. Passengers in other cities, including Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec City, and Vancouver, must get connecting flights to Ireland.

Air Canada operates flights from Toronto, Vancouver, and Windsor.