HOW TO MAKE AN INTERNATIONAL PHONE CALL

From April through October, Ireland and the UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, and Wales) are five hours ahead of Eastern Time. (When it is 5:00am in the Eastern Time Zone, it is 10:00am in Ireland and the UK.)

Telephone numbers are formatted as follows:

Ireland: 353 (country code) (0) 56 (area / city code) 123456 (telephone number)

The UK: 44 (country code) (0)1334 (area / city code) 123456 (telephone number)

 The area codes and telephone numbers may vary in length.

CALLING FROM NORTH AMERICA TO IRELAND OR THE UK

For calls from North America to Ireland or the UK, dial:

011-country code-area code without the zero-telephone number
The zero at the beginning of the area code is dropped when calling from North America.

Mobile phone users with a North American phone number should dial:

+-country code-area code without the zero-telephone number
Most phones will dial a “+” when you hold down the zero button.

CALLING FROM IRELAND OR THE UK TO NORTH AMERICA

To place a call from an Ireland or UK landline to North America, dial:
00-1-area code-telephone number

Mobile phone users with a North American phone number should dial:
+-1-area code-telephone number
Most phones will dial a “+” when you hold down the zero button.

CALLING WITHIN IRELAND OR THE UK

Mobile phone users with a North American phone number will always dial as if they are calling from the U.S. or Canada.

Whenever you are calling to a number within the country with a local phone, but to another area (city), dial:

area code-telephone number
Dial the zero at the beginning of the area code.

When you are calling within the same area code, you will just dial the telephone number.

CALLING BETWEEN THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND & THE UK

To place a call from an Ireland landline to a UK landline, or vice versa, with a local phone:
00-country code-area code without the zero-telephone number

Mobile phone users should dial:
+-country code-area code without the zero-telephone number
Most phones will dial a “+” when you hold down the zero button.

WHAT TO USE WHEN CALLING

MOBILE PHONE

Check with your mobile phone provider to find out if your phone will work in Ireland / the UK. Verify that you will need only an adaptor to charge your phone while you are abroad. Using your mobile phone may be less expensive than using your hotel room phone.

CALLING CARD

If you will not be taking a mobile phone, we suggest purchasing a calling card in Ireland / the UK. Most convenience stores and any post office will sell calling cards. If you will be staying at a guesthouse, there will not be a phone in your room.

INTERNET

If you will be taking your laptop, an excellent alternative for making inexpensive phone calls would be to open a Skype account (www.skype.com). This is a prepaid voice over internet service that charges a very inexpensive rate per minute. Encourage anyone that you may want to call to open a Skype account too, and you can talk to them for free from computer to computer.