wow, thanks everyone
I am so excited, but nervous. It will be a huge help that they speak English though!
NotUrsula, thanks for all the great tips! I knew gas was more expensive, but not that much! We had heard about automatic cars being hard to get, so we already brought that up. Neither one of us can drive standard so hopefully we will be able to get one. (I read on a travel site that rental places have very few and run out). Also that's interesting about the plumbing as well. See, these are the things you'd never know unless someone tells you!
We will definitely be packing mac & cheese and peanut butter then! My older son is SO picky, he might have a bit of a hard time adjusting (but maybe he'll finally try NEW foods!
) I am also REALLY hoping to get a washing machine. Do they not have dryers over there?
Dryers exist (or rather, most of the time it is a washer/dryer in one machine, hard for an American to imagine), but electricity is expensive in Ireland, and so most landlords do not put the combo units into rental properties because it would really drive up the electric bill. Very few people would use one in the summertime even if they had one; it's considered a serious waste of electricity unless it's very damp out.
I didn't know it might be warm enough to swim at all, that would be great as that's one thing I will miss a lot! We are from Mass, so normally would have lots of beach time.
Oh, I didn't say that it would be warm enough to swim, only that the AIR temperature would be warm. Since you're Yankees you might feel up to swimming, but that's the North Sea; it's not exactly
warm at any time of year. However, my dad grew up in a Donegal fishing village and he and his brothers spent hours in the water every day in summer; it is all in what you are used to. It will be much more pleasant for swimming off the beaches down south, especially around Cork, but it might not be really cold near Galway; I've never tried to swim in that area so I couldn't say. (FYI, Note that the fishing and diving is GREAT off Malin; there are several major wrecks just off the coast and they are catching large tuna again there now. Surfing is also hugely popular in Donegal, but most folks wear wetsuits to do that.)
We googlemapped Malin Head and saw that it's at the tip top of Ireland. We're guessing it's around a 5-6 hour drive, does that seem right? Thank you so much for the tip about the library in Letterkenny. There are a few birth certificates I would LOVE to get for my mom if I can.
Probably more like eight hours in summertime, because of the tourist traffic near the coasts; the stretch of the N15 between Sligo and Donegal Town can be particularly slow; it runs along the beaches in spots and moves at a crawl there.
If you need birth certificates and you know the year and place of birth and the names of the parents, you are better off writing to the Registry Office in Dublin for them. What the Library mostly has are census records, burial records, newspapers and such, and LOTS of old photographs. The churches also have copies of birth and marriage records, but in that part of the world you always run the risk of finding that the church records have burned at some time in the past. If I were you I'd start with writing to the local church in Malin now with what information you have. If the family was RC, the parish is Cloncha
http://www.derrydiocese.org/malin.asp (I'm afraid I don't know the name of the local Church of Ireland parish.)
One other thing about the area around Malin; it is near the Border and even today remains the sort of place where politics are important, and where people can generally guess your religious affiliation just by your family name. Most people won't be overtly partisan one way or the other, but you probably will encounter curiousity, and you absolutely will be asked your opinions on American political issues when you chat with people in pubs there; they are informed about US policy and they tend to love to talk politics with Americans.
Does anyone know how the public transportation is in Galway?
Quite good; there is good bus service all over Ireland, though in rural areas it is very slow because it stops in every tiny town. Taxi's are also available in almost every village, though more and more people are buying their own cars now even though it is so expensive to do. My aunt still lives in the remote village that she was born in; she never learned to drive, but she goes anywhere and everywhere that she needs to go by bus. (Of course she also walks the three miles round trip to Mass every day at age 86, but that's an Irish countrywoman for you.)
Iarnrod's passenger rail service does not run in the North West north of Sligo, but it does run between Dublin and Galway, and from Galway down via Ennis to Cork City.
So my husband was asked to go over to a company office in Galway for 3 months, they'll pay airfare/housing/car for us. We are so excited for this great opportunity, but I'm a little nervous as our boys will be 4 and 1 and it's pretty far! and we won't know anyone. 
We'll be there July, Aug, Sept. 
3 days in August.
