Public Toilets in Ireland/Toilets for the Disabled
 

Your comments about the general availability and accessibility of public toilets in Ireland would be appreciated. Is it relatively easy for tourists to find them wherever we go or does it take some sleuthing? Are owners of establishments with them likely to look askance at non-customers in need or do they, as with many places, simply accept that people have needs? I'm disabled but able to walk (I carry a stick for stability when traveling) and am investigating the possibility of acquiring a key to toilets for the disabled in Ireland. It comes with close to a US$40 price tag but would probably be worth it if attitudes in Ireland toward public use of facilities are negative.

Thanks for your input.
BigBlue

I can think of public toilets in Kenmare, Kinsale and Dingle, off the top of my head.

I like to stop in the markets like Dunnes or Tesco to use the facilities. Any of the major tourist sites will have restrooms.

I'm sure most pub owners are used to tourists popping in for this reason.

I haven't been to Ireland but if it's anything like England, Scotland and Wales, there should be a good amount of public toilets about. I don't recall ever having to pay and they were usually clean. They are often tucked away behind shops or in an open air car park. In London they are often downstairs, underground, so this may be the case in some of the larger Irish cities.

As I said, I'm not familiar with Ireland but I would expect there to be separate mens and womens toilets as well as a disabled toilet which I would think would not be locked but am not sure. If it were locked wouldn't there be an attendant nearby to unlock it for you?

The Bathroom Diaries website doesn't seem to be working properly, but I found this:

http://69.94.10.22/ireland/dublin.html

http://www.irelandlogue.com/planning...n-ireland.html

Kay

"in Ireland" is probably a bit too general.

In major cities like Dublin you will find public toilets in downtown shopping centers, department stores, museums, parking garages. On the usual tourist trail you should never be far from one.

In the countryside:
Sights that charge an entrance fee almost always also have toilets for free, be it Dublin Castle or Clonmacnoise monastery.
Gas stations (also for free, no tip expected. Usually you know why).
Larger Supermarkets like the aforementioned Tesco.
Most small towns have at least one public (pay) toilet, often at or near the central parking lot if there is one. The old-fashioned type with seperate areas for men and women is usually for free, while the more modern automatic single units with cleaning and sanitizing after each use require 30-50c to get inside.

Pubs, cafes, restaurants are private businesses that do not supply public toilets.
The more touristy an area is, you either you find a sign saying that toilets are only for patrons, or a request to drop a nominal fee at the bar (like 50c). The latter version usually was succesful for me so far also in places that had no sign at the door.
I would consider it minimal courtesy to ask for permission to use the toilet and offer to drop 50c in the tips jar if there is one.

Oh, and by the way.. if you ever run into one of the really old public toilets with "M" and "F" designating the different areas for each gender, don't read that as Male/Female or you will be up for a surprise :-)

Great responses, thanks! Cowboy1968, want to elaborate on M and F?

M = Mra = Woman
F = Fír = Man

But you really have to look hard to find "historic" toilets that use the Irish words. It's not common use.

These are all good comments. Also, there is a wonderful organization called Tourism for all UK that may be able to assist in providing additional information.

Not to be picky, but I think Woman is Mna.

jaja.. So true! I definetely have my problems with the virtual keyboard of the iPhone.

Michell.. Also not trying to be picky, but Tourism UK (could you mean visitbritain.com?) will only be helpful for information re. Northern Ireland. Discoverireland.com covers the whole island.

We sometimes did have issues finding public restrooms when we were driving around the countryside, away from tourist sites.