Rail travel to Ireland from Northern Ireland (which is part of the United Kingdom) is simply a matter of getting on a Northern Ireland Railways train destined for the Republic of Ireland. Tickets can be booked to major cities in the republic such as Cork or Dublin. You may need a passport to cross the border.
Since Ireland is an island, the only way to use rail travel to get there is to combine it with ferry travel. Offers can be found on ferry websites, and websites such as Seat61 sell ferry/rail combination tickets from any train station in Britain to Dublin.
As of 2010, there were no combination ferry/rail tickets or fly/rail tickets available from countries other than the UK to Ireland.
On the island of Ireland, people ages 66 or over are entitled to free rail travel. This offer is valid until December 31, 2010. Registration is necessary at least 48 hours before arrival in Ireland on the Tourism Ireland website. Separate registration, on the same website, is necessary to include Northern Ireland.
