Best option for cell phone to use in Ireland?

[NJ_Pubcrawler]

My girlfriend and I are planning a vacation to Ireland later this summer. We expect to be there for about 10-12 days and will be traveling quite a bit throughout the country while we are there. Because we will be on the road quite a bit and will not be staying in one location for very long, we would like to have a cell phone with us in case of emergency or if family needs to reach us.

We both use VZW so obviously our phones will not work. Would it be possible for me to pick up a prepaid phone from either T-Mobile or Cingular and then purchase a prepaid SIM card when I reach Ireland? I don't expect to use the phone much (if at all) while I am there so I would not need many minutes. Forgive me if the answer to this question seems obvious - I am not very familiar with the GSM world so this is all kind of new to me.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[ShoresGuy]

Your best option would be to purchase a prepaid phone in Ireland. I don't know how the prices are at the moment so you might want to compare and see if it's cheaper to buy a prepaid phone and a prepaid SIM separately (not the best way to go) or to buy a prepaid phone with a SIM as a package deal.

Have a look at places like The Carphone Warehouse:

http://www.carphonewarehouse.ie/comm...Y&NODE_ID=5885
http://www.vodafone.ie/phonestariffs...ones/range.jsp (look at the Ready To Go Price!! under each specific phone page)
https://shop.o2.ie/catalog/default.php?cPath=25

Prepaid SIM offers for Ireland:

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/ireland.html

Ask if you have more questions