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Thanks so much to everyone for their comments on traveling to Ireland.  I feel 
much more reassured about traveling there!  Again thanks and Happy Holidays!
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You should go to Ireland! It is beautiful and a wonderful place to visit.
 
My husband and I spent almost two weeks there in August. He used to live 
there and it was his first trip back after being diagnosed with celiac disease. 
I'm not sure how you prefer to travel, but I can tell you a little about our 
experience. We rented a car in Dublin, spent time in Belfast and other 
Northern locations and then spent most of our time in rural Co. Donegal 
visiting friends. In larger cities, most grocery stores will have "free from" 
sections. You'll be able to stock up on gluten-free breads, cakes and cookies. 
Also, department store Marks & Spencer has a food hall. THey don't have a lot 
of specifically gluten-free items (they had a wonderful chocolate cake and a 
tea cake that we loved), but they do label very clearly and you'd be able to 
put together meals fairly easily. Most restuarants we visited had a least a 
basic understanding of celiac needs, and everyone seemed willing to 
accomodate, whether they were familiar or not. It wasn't perfect, of course, 
but Johnny didn't get sick while we were there! If you are a fan of Indian 
curries, I will tell you that folks in Northern Ireland must have a real sweet 
tooth. We had Indian twice and my curry was on the sweet side both times! 
We were also able to get some nice ciders in the pubs we visited, by the way.
 
Feel free to write back if you want any more information! Oh, and Johnny was 
even able to get gluten-free meals on the airplane. We flew Delta and I 
obsessively confirmed the GF food reservation three times...

We were in Ireland and Scotland this past summer and had no problem eating.
Most people are aware of the gluten-free diet. To be safe, we contacted our
inns before we left and they all had bread and other breakfast items for us.
We also checked the web site for the Coeliac Society in Ireland and found a
number of restaurants that have a gluten-free menu and many other fine chefs
who were willing to work with us. If you are going to visit Dublin, be sure
to go to O'Connell's to eat. It's a lovely restaurant with a huge
gluten-free menu.
 
The only word of caution is that in Ireland they often use Triticale flour (I
think that is the name) and it contains gluten-free wheat starch. My son
and I ate it several times and did not have any problems. However, I
wouldn't want to have a steady diet of this. Hope this helps.

we went to Ireland last summer. Every single restaurant knew what I was 
talking about and I ate like a QUEEN. We had hands down the best food in 
Dingle, but did a tour from Dublin south and up to Westport. If you want 
recommendations of hotel let me know. We even stayed in a bed and 
breakfast associated with a cooking school and I got fresh, wonderful gluten 
free bread.

Ireland is well aware of Celiac Disease and was originally so 
identified with it that CD was called the Irish disease. They had a 
very high incidence of it. you should have no trouble eating there. 
The British Isles treat GF baked goods as prescriptions and residents 
order their gf food from the Chemist shop ( pharmacy) paid for by the 
National Health Insurance. Hope you have nothing but good 
experiences while traveling.

I went to Ireland last year.  Although it was part of one of those gluten-free 
trips (which I would actually not recommend, but that's another story), I 
found Ireland to be extremely GF friendly.  In restaurants in Dublin, for 
instance, you would see "Ask for gluten-free bread instead" as an option on 
the menus.  There are so many Celiacs that this is common.  In grocery 
stores, you can easily find GF items.  I would say that this, of the many 
countries that I have traveled to, is the most easy to visit with Celiac. 

In general, celiac awareness is much higher in Ireland than in the US. For 
example, we stayed a week at the Merrion in Dublin and had GF toast with 
breakfast and wonderful lunches and dinners with almost no hassle. Even in 
the countryside, we really had no problems. Enjoy!

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