Lauttainfo Ireland is one of the country guides of lauttainfo.com, a small independent project that began with the road ferries of Finland. It is written in English for anyone planning a crossing in Ireland, whether they live here or are visiting. Nobody involved works for a ferry operator, a harbour company, a county council or a government department, no tickets are sold here, and the adverts on the pages pay for the running costs.
Many of the boats covered are small, and that changes what a traveller needs to know. The departure time is only part of it: which pier the boat uses, whether you must ring ahead, whether a car can come, and what happens to a sailing when the swell rises. Each page tries to answer those questions as plainly as the official sources allow.
The figures come from the people who run the service: the operator's website, leaflet or printed timetable, or the public body that contracts it. A copy of each source is saved on the day it is read, and that date is shown beside every table. When two official sources disagree, or a price appears only on a reseller's booking page, the number stays off the site and the page explains what is missing.
Island services change with the seasons and some close for the winter, so every crossing shows two dates: when it was last checked and when it is due to be checked again. A page that has passed its recheck date is reviewed before anything else on it is changed.
If what you found at the pier does not match a page, write to [email protected] and name the crossing. Corrections are made once the official source confirms them.