Which SIM, by length of stay
The airport rack is built for people who have not read this. Pick the row that matches your trip, then read only the sections you need.
| Your stay | Do this | Cost, August 2026 | Skip |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU or UK SIM, any length up to a few months | Keep your own SIM. Roam like at home (EU) or the big-four UK exemption does the job. Read the welcome text. | €0 on top of your home plan | Airport SIMs, travel eSIMs |
| Visiting ≤ 2 weeks, data is all you need | Lycamobile data-only eSIM, bought before you fly. Wi-Fi calling on your home number for calls. | €6.99 for 5 GB, €9.99 for 10 GB | Anything with an Irish number you will never give out |
| Visiting ≤ 2 weeks, need an Irish number | Vodafone Data Unlimited 5G eSIM before you land, or Three Super Surfer from WHSmith in T1. | €20 for 28 days | The €25–€30 visitor packs on the same rack |
| Visiting ≤ 1 month | Same €20 28-day prepay. Eir Prepay €20 if you are touring the west. One top-up covers the trip. | €20 once | Any 12-month SIM-only |
| 1 to 3 months | Rolling monthly SIM-only. Cancel in the app when you leave. No exit fee. | €12.99 a month, plus €12.99 activation on GoMo and Clear | Eir Connect and Tesco Elevate, whose intro price needs 12 months to pay off |
| Relocating | 48, Clear or GoMo at €12.99 this week. Port the number into a bill-pay deal later if one is worth it. | €155.88–€168.87 in year one | Bill-pay phone contracts until you have an Irish bank and address history |
For the broadband side of moving, including what each retailer asks for when you have no PPS number and no Irish bank history, use broadband when you move to Ireland. This page does not repeat that.
Do you need an Irish SIM at all?
Most visitors from Europe do not. That is the honest answer the airport kiosks will not give you.
EU, EEA, Ukraine and Moldova
Roam like at home is an EU rule. A SIM from Spain, Poland or Germany pays its home rate in Ireland for calls, texts and data, up to whatever fair-use data cap your own operator sets. From 1 January 2026 Ukrainian and Moldovan SIMs are inside the same rule, per ComReg. Our EU roaming guide is written for Irish SIMs going out; the mechanism is identical coming in. Buy an Irish SIM only if your home cap is small, or you are staying long enough that your operator's "periodic travel" test kicks in, typically four months of more use abroad than at home.
United Kingdom
Brexit removed the legal protection, but the four UK networks kept the Republic of Ireland as a special case. EE treats Irish use as part of your UK allowance. Vodafone UK puts Ireland in its free Zone A. O2 charges nothing in its Europe Zone. Three UK excludes Ireland from its daily roaming charge entirely. All four apply a fair-use cap, typically 25 GB a month. The risk is a UK MVNO that copied the daily fee without the Irish exemption. The welcome text when you land in Dublin is the live contract: if it quotes a per-day price, a €9 Lycamobile Ireland Plus or a €20 unlimited prepay is cheaper from day three onward.
United States, Canada, Australia, Asia
This is where an Irish SIM pays for itself in a weekend. Telstra's International Day Pass is AU$10 a day for 2 GB, which we verified on Telstra's critical information summary. Verizon TravelPass and AT&T International Day Pass are typically US$10–12 a day. Two weeks of daily passes is roughly €120–€170 for one phone. The Irish alternative is €20 for 28 days of unlimited 5G, or €6.99 for 5 GB of data-only. Keep your home SIM active for banking texts, use Wi-Fi calling for calls home, and run Ireland on the eSIM.
eSIM before you land, ranked for a visitor
Six of the eleven retailers we track issue eSIM. Only some of them are built for someone without an Irish address. Full list and activation steps live in eSIM in Ireland; this is the visitor cut.
| Retailer | Buy from abroad? | Visitor plan | Host radio | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vodafone | Yes. Vodafone's own visitor page says activate "before or after you arrive". | Data Unlimited 5G, €20 per 28 days, 100 any-network minutes and texts, 100 international minutes | Vodafone | First choice for a visitor who wants an Irish number. Best rural radio of the three for a touring trip. |
| Lycamobile | Yes. Checkout emails a QR code. | Data S 5 GB €6.99, Data M 10 GB €9.99, Ireland Plus 30 GB €9 | Eir | Cheapest for data-only. Eir radio since late 2025, so it holds up outside the cities better than the old Three-hosted Lyca did. |
| Three | Yes, via the My3 app or online card payment on the visitor plans. | Visit Ireland 5 GB €15 for 7 days, Visit Ireland 25 GB €25 for 28 days, or Super Surfer €20 unlimited 5G | Three | Fine in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Super Surfer is the better buy of the three Three plans. |
| Eir | Yes, online with your phone's IMEI, or in a larger Eir store. | Prepay €20, unlimited 5G, 45 GB EU roaming | Eir | Widest 5G footprint. The "text 30for20 to 50104 before topping up" step trips up first-timers. |
| GoMo | Card and email, eSIM, app-only. Built for residents, not blocked for visitors. | GoMo Mobile €12.99 unlimited 5G, €12.99 activation | Eir | The relocation eSIM. Over a month it beats every prepay above. |
| Sky Mobile | eSIM, but a 12-month term. | 10 GB €10, Unlimited €12.99 | Vodafone | Not for visitors. Residents who want Piggybank rollover only. |
Still plastic: 48, Clear, Tesco, Virgin Media and An Post. That rules them out for anyone who wants to land connected, and it is why 48 and Clear only appear in the relocation section below.
One trap: the eSIM travel apps that rank highly for "eSIM Ireland" (Airalo, Holafly, Saily and the like) are data-only, usually cost more per gigabyte than Lycamobile, and give you no Irish number. They make sense for a multi-country European trip. For Ireland alone, buy Irish.
What the airports actually sell
We checked the networks' own visitor pages and the airports' facilities listings in August 2026. Third-party travel blogs contradict each other on prices and hours, so treat the figures below as the pattern, not a price list.
| Airport | Where | Networks | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dublin T1 | WHSmith in arrivals; Sim Local vending machine (listed by Dublin Airport as "SIM Card Sales – Powered by Sim Local", Terminal 1) | Three, Vodafone, Lycamobile | The only terminal where Three's own page says you can buy its SIM. Vending runs outside shop hours. |
| Dublin T2 | Spar in the arrivals hall; Sim Local vending machine | Vodafone, Lycamobile; Three via the machine | Most long-haul arrivals land here. Spar is 24 hours on the guides we read. |
| Cork | WHSmith before security, 05:00–23:00 (airport listing). Guides report Lycamobile and 48 vending in arrivals. | Typically Lycamobile, 48, Vodafone | Small airport. Cork city has every network's shop; a Tesco €10 SIM is ten minutes away. |
| Shannon | Guides report Lycamobile and 48 vending in arrivals plus a newsagent rack | Typically Lycamobile, 48, Vodafone | If you are driving the Wild Atlantic Way from here, you want Vodafone or Eir radio, not 48 on Three. |
The airport markup. The visitor packs on the airport rack are bundled differently from the plans on this site. Travel guides from 2025 quote Three at €30 and Vodafone at €25–€35 at Dublin Airport, against the €20 Super Surfer and €20 Data Unlimited 5G you get by topping up a blank SIM in a city shop or buying the eSIM online. The €5–€15 difference is the price of not reading this before landing. A 48 SIM from a vending machine is the exception: the membership is €12.99 whether you get the card at Cork arrivals or in the post, but you still activate it yourself in the My48 app, and 48 is plastic-only.
ID and registration: there is no law
Ireland has no mandatory SIM registration. A 2017 Seanad motion to create a register of prepaid phones was not adopted, and the Department's own view at the time was that a register would be of limited benefit without a national ID card. Nothing has changed that position as of August 2026. Digital Rights Ireland still campaigns against a register, which tells you one has not arrived.
What that means at the till:
- You can buy a prepay SIM from a vending machine, a Spar or a Tesco with no ID and no form.
- Network stores may ask for photo ID for an in-store activation. That is a shop policy, not a legal requirement.
- Online eSIM checkouts want a card and an email address. Vodafone offers €10 free credit for registering a My Vodafone account; that is voluntary registration with an incentive, which is the Irish model.
- Travel blogs that say "every provider requires a passport" are describing other countries. Ignore them for Ireland.
Visitor plans compared, August 2026
The visitor-grade plans from our mobile catalogue. "28-day prepay" means one top-up and it runs out; nothing recurs unless you set it to. Year-one is there so you can see what happens if you stay and never switch.
| Retailer | Plan | Price | Data | Cadence | Host radio | 5G | Year-one |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lycamobile | Data S Data-only for a week or two. No Irish number for calls. | €6.99 | 5 GB | 28-day prepay | Eir network | Yes | €91 |
| Lycamobile | Ireland Plus Cheapest SIM with calls. 28 days, promo price. | €9 | 30 GB | 28-day prepay | Eir network | Yes | €117 |
| Tesco Mobile | €10 SIM Only Any Tesco till. 5 GB is small. 4G only. | €10 | 5 GB | Rolling monthly | Three network | 4G | €120 |
| An Post Mobile | Prepay €12.99 Any post office. Vodafone radio, 4G only. | €12.99 | 50 GB | 28-day prepay | Vodafone network | 4G | €169 |
| Three | Three Super Surfer Unlimited 5G, 28 days, sold at Dublin Airport T1. | €20 | Unlimited | 28-day prepay | Three network | Yes | €260 |
| Vodafone | Data Unlimited 5G (prepay) Unlimited 5G eSIM you can set up before you fly. | €20 | Unlimited | 28-day prepay | Vodafone network | Yes | €260 |
| Eir Mobile | Prepay €20 Unlimited 5G on the widest 5G footprint. Text before top-up. | €20 | Unlimited | 28-day prepay | Eir network | Yes | €260 |
Three's Visit Ireland packs (5 GB for €15 over 7 days, 25 GB for €25 over 28 days) are sold alongside Super Surfer on three.ie. For anyone staying more than a week, Super Surfer at €20 with unlimited 5G is the better of the three.
Lycamobile's Ireland Plus at €9 is a six-month promo price. That does not matter for a visitor, but it matters if you stay. Full prepay ranking: best prepay in Ireland. If you are not sure how much data a fortnight of maps and photos needs, how much data do I need has the per-day figures.
Relocating: the €12.99 path
If you have moved here, the airport prepay is the wrong product. Three rolling monthly SIMs give you unlimited 5G with no contract, no credit check, no PPS number and no exit fee. You need a debit or credit card, an email address and, for the plastic-SIM two, an Irish address for An Post to deliver to.
| Retailer | Monthly | Activation | Year-one | Host radio | SIM | EU/UK roaming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | €12.99 | None | €155.88 | Three network | Plastic, by post | 20 GB EU/UK roaming |
| Clear Mobile | €12.99 | €12.99, first month free | €155.88 | Vodafone network | Plastic, by post | 23 GB EU/UK roaming |
| GoMo | €12.99 | €12.99 | €168.87 | Eir network | eSIM | 23 GB EU roaming |
Week one, no Irish address yet. GoMo is the only one of the three on eSIM, so it is the one you can have working tonight from a hostel. 48 and Clear post a card, and 48 will only deliver to an Irish address. A friend's address or your employer's office works; a hotel usually does too.
Picking between them. It is the radio, not the brand. 48 is Three, Clear is Vodafone, GoMo is Eir. Dublin apartment dwellers are fine on any. Anyone heading to Kerry, Donegal or Connemara should read the coverage section first. The long version is 48 vs GoMo vs Clear.
Keeping the number later. Once you have an Irish bank account, a bill-pay deal with a phone or a big-brand SIM may be worth it. You can port the number from any of these three. Irish porting is provider-led: you give the new provider your number and the account details, they do the rest, and it typically completes the same day. Keep the old SIM live until the new one has signal. Process: how to switch mobile, with the porting mechanics in number porting explained.
What not to do in month one. Eir Connect at €14.99 and Tesco Elevate at €15 look cheaper than €12.99 until you read the thereafter price: €29.99 and €30. They need the full 12 months to beat a rolling SIM, and you do not yet know whether you will be here in 12 months. Details in bill pay vs prepay.
Coverage outside Dublin, by radio not by brand
Every Irish SIM runs on one of three radios. Eir: Eir, GoMo and Lycamobile. Three: Three, 48, Tesco and Virgin. Vodafone: Vodafone, Clear, An Post and Sky. A cheap SIM on the wrong radio is a dead phone on the Ring of Kerry.
- Eir claims 99% population 5G coverage and was named Opensignal's number one for 5G coverage and availability in 2026. That is population, not landmass, but it is the strongest 5G claim of the three. Eir retires its 3G layer from 1 October 2026 in phases, which only matters if your handset is 3G-only.
- Vodafone has the long-standing rural reputation and a 99% population claim of its own. Clear rents it with 5G; An Post rents it 4G only.
- Three is strong in the cities and along the motorways and patchier in the far west. 48 is the cheapest way to rent it.
Before you commit €20, put your actual route into ComReg's coverage map and the network's own checker. The full treatment, with the Wild Atlantic Way by county, is best mobile for rural Ireland.
Calling home from your Irish SIM
Two routes, and the cheap one is usually free.
Wi-Fi calling on your home SIM. If your home operator supports Wi-Fi calling and your phone has both SIMs active, calls to home numbers route over the hotel Wi-Fi at home rates, often free. Turn it on before you fly; some operators only let you enable it from the home network. Why that matters more after the Irish 3G switch-offs, and how to check your handset supports VoLTE here, is in Wi-Fi calling, VoLTE and the 3G switch-off.
International minutes on the Irish SIM. Vodafone's €20 Data Unlimited 5G includes 100 international minutes. Three's Visit Ireland 25 GB includes 50. Eir's €30 International prepay has 120. Lycamobile's country bundles are the specialist option: Asia Plus is €10 with 500 minutes to national and international numbers, and Unlimited Plus lists unlimited calls to 35 countries on the promo. If you are here for a year and phoning home weekly, read best mobile for international calls before picking a €12.99 SIM that has none.
HelloGlobe is not this. 48's HelloGlobe is a travel eSIM for 48 customers going outside the EU and UK. It does not help a visitor to Ireland and it does not add international minutes to a 48 plan.
Once you are settled, the wider ranking is best mobile in Ireland, and find your mobile narrows it by what you actually use.
