Your Driving License
This sounds obvious - but you wouldn't guess how many people turn up with no or the wrong license. If you can’t show a valid license at the counter, they won’t give you the car keys.
Contact your rental agency to see which licenses are acceptable. And remember that it is the law to carry your license with you when driving,.
Oh, and also remember: every named driver needs to show his or her license, not just the renter.
Glasses or Contact Lenses
If you need optical aids while driving, wear them - regardless of whether this is mentioned on your driving license or not. To dispense with clear vision is reckless, endangering you and others and, to be blunt, plain stupid. Apart from the fact that you may lose insurance cover.
A Decent Road Map
Car rental firms will usually be happy to give you a map - this ranks from a fold-out map of decent size to a photocopy of the main road network on an A4-sized single sheet. If you plan on doing a fair bit of driving, invest in a road atlas.
Sunglasses
Bring sunglasses or clip-ons - Irish sunsets especially in the West can last ages and no sun visor, cap or tinted windscreen will protect you from slowly going all but blind. At which point an obstacle will suddenly appear, in a shadowy area, the better to surprise you.
Do yourself a favor and prevent accidents (or simple tiredness) by wearing sunglasses.
Some Loose Change
Even if you are not planning on using the toll roads, always have some change ready. You will need it for parking meters. Leave a handful in the car and you are sorted for any emergencies.
Remember that there are two currencies in use in Ireland - you will need Euros in the Republic and Pounds Sterling in Northern Ireland.
Child Seats
Here is the law: children in cars must be using appropriately fixed seats, depending on size. It is illegal to carry child passengers without these (though you would not believe this when observing some Irish parents).
If the legal requirements are not enough to convince you, just remember that children without proper seats and restraints are airborne and often fatally injured in even minor crashes.
Contact you car rental company beforehand regarding child seats. Check that you get the appropriate and legal seats - if not, refuse them and complain.
Tissues and Baby Wipes
Always a good idea, even if you have no drooling infants with you. For those awkward moments when you need a quick sneeze or clean hands. The latter can be especially relevant as many public restrooms lack in facilities. Enough said.
Spare Wheel and Tools
Check that these are there (and in order) when picking up the rental car - if they are missing, get them brought and stored immediately. Even one of those dreadful "emergency wheels" will get you to your hotel or B&B. Or any other place where you can wait safely and in moderate comfort for a replacement tire.
A Bottle of Mineral Water
You can never have enough water - for re-hydrating or even topping up the radiator. And carrying a bottle or two makes economic sense as well - two liters will cost you € 0.35 in a supermarket, a quarter of this amount will cost you € 1.50 at a gas station.
Common Sense in Planning
This is not a tangible thing to take, this is a state of mind - in Ireland you won’t be traveling further than 40 miles in an hour off the few motorways. Daily tours of 200 miles or more will leave you with almost no time to visit attractions. Plan shorter stages if you can.
