Can anyone tell me exactly how things in Ireland shut down over Easter weekend? I just realized from Good Friday to Easter Monday is a national holiday. Will we be alright?

Good Friday is always a tricky one - all the pubs close and, therefore, a lot of restaurants do too. Otherwise I'm pretty sure almost everything operates as normal.

Transportation is dicey on Monday, usually on a Sunday schedule. Some places start holiday hours on Friday and most places they are in effect on Monday. We usually just stay wherever we are Saturday.

Most places are a ghost town on Good Friday. There are no pubs or restaurants iopen but many people book into a hotel as if you are a hotel resident the bar is legally allowed to open. Also most hotels will have a restaurant so food will not be an issue. If you are in a B&B you will not find ANY places open for a meal at night. I would suggest a hotel Good Friday. Most of my friends bu food and drink the day before and have a party.

Overall is a slow weekend.

A couple of questions on Easter Weekend. I am traveling to Galway and will be staying in a B&B on Friday & Saturday nights. We are going to most likely book a hotel for Sunday. Please elaborate on this weekend. Friday everyting is closed, pubs, resturants etc. How about Saturday and Sunday are the Pubs and such open on those days? Also how about Gas stations. Since it is a ghost town on Friday we thoughy we could drive up to Clifden. Are there Petrol stations open on Friday or are the closed as well?

Petrol stations should be fine. The issue is that places with a liquor licence cannot serve alcohol on Good Friday so bars and most restaurants. I was in Kilkenny a couple of years ago and some restaurants were open but just not serving alcohol. In a smaller town though you might find all the bars and restaurants closed. In Clifden you may find a cafe/tearoom open but I would expect the restaurants and bars to be closed, there are a couple of hotels there (the Alcock and Brown is right in the centre) and you could call them to check if they will be serving sandwiches / lunch. Saturday and Sunday is business as usual but as Siobhan says it is generally a slow weekend.

I contacted our b&b in Dingle about this because I thought we would need to make reservations in advance if our options were limited. But she said we didn't need to.