@redhead My guess is that if you're packing your stuff in to a 40 foot container you probably won't be living in a "downtown city centre" area. Most accomodation options in Irish city centres are apartments/flats, and not houses.
However, no matter where you live in Ireland you'll have difficulty getting a 40 foot container right to your door. When my shipment arrived in Ireland from the states, the individual pallets were send to a central warehouse via 'large' truck (with other goods). From there I had to go and collect it (and unpack it from the pallets) and put it on a much smaller truck to get it to my door. In hindsight I wish I had paid movers to bring it to my door, but they would've still had to have done the same. There is no way a large container truck can get to most housing estates, or suburb areas without breaking down the consignment.
This is something you can discuss with your shipping company. There are numerous out there, so do plenty of research, and ask plenty of questions to find the one you want. To get answer to this specific question, I suggest contacting a company in Ireland. Generally they are referred to as "removals companies" in Ireland. You could Google a couple, and call/email them to get more accurate information.
Best of luck! Would love to hear how it goes, and what you find out.

hi liam,
oh boy, kinda knew this was going to be the answer- and i thank you for your reply. we have searched city centre areas, found homes/ apartments/ flats that we really really liked- and i knew the container size would be an issue- so on top of the 40 foot container price - i will have to add on the removal team..... ugh....

@redhead I'm sure this is a standard dilemma in Ireland, so definitely check with the pros, and see what kind of options they have for you.

Hi @Redhead - what did you decide to go with in the end? I'm moving in July and am only starting to think about shipping now, and am slightly panicking that I may have already left it a bit late!! would love to hear how you got on....

Julie, you probably haven't left it too late, but you'd definitely want to get on it, especially if you want your belongings to arrive around the same time you do. I sent my stuff way ahead of time, thinking they'd arrive 1-2 weeks after we did, but it was more like 2 months! It's nice to get your things and be able to settle in properly.

I recently returned to Ireland having lived in New Jersey and was very fortunate to have used Liffey Van Lines based in NYC (212) 410-5186 who were so easy to work with, very informative and made what I thought would be the most difficult of tasks, to be easy and very straightforward. They walked me through the paperwork which was very straightforward. They gave me a few dates to work with in December and my things went smoothly through Irish customs and I had them roughly by end of January. They have a storage facility in Ardnacrusha, Co. Clare just a few miles from where I'm currently located and my things are being stored there until I find a permanent location. I only had a small amount to ship and was able to "share" a container which was very cost effective.

I would highly recommend them and hope others find this posting helpful.

Good luck with your move!

Hello! I'm Megan, new here (*waves*), just moved to Dublin a month ago, from Tucson, Arizona, USA.

I happen to be in the midst of a shipping nightmare. We had our three pallets shipped via a company known as OSI Shipping (my husband did not check Google or Yelp reviews prior to organizing... had he done so, he would have seen the scathing remarks of many, many dissatisfied customers). They actually tried to ship our pallets to Dublin, UK, despite ALL of our documentation indicating Ireland, then charged *us* to change the paperwork just a couple weeks ago, as it had already sat in port in New Jersey for six weeks. Still unsure if it's left port, but the contents belong to my three children (they traveled with only a back pack of clothing) so desperately hoping it still makes its way here. 🙁

In any case, was curious what to expect once it arrives in Ireland. Anyone know what occurs in the way of customs? Paperwork? Etc? Any tips greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!! And lovely to *meet* you all. 🙂

Delighted to have you here, Megan. And if you don't mind me posting the link, I'm so happy to have found your blog at http://deserttodublin.blogspot.com (For everyone who has yet to meet Megan, she shares some absolutely must-know details about moving to Ireland from the perspective of a non-EEA immigrant).

I had a similar shipping nightmare. Even after befriending the shipping company and spending many hours on the phone and over email with the same one person (who seemed to be runnng the company). My stuff ended up leaving CA about a month after I sent it ( btw, I sent it so early to have it sooner, but that didn't work out). It then went to Belgium of all places and stayed there for a few weeks. Much nagging and many phonecalls later on my part, I finally got them to send it (a shipment of 3 pallets like you) to Dublin. It was meant to arrive in Cork, but that wasn't happening. When it arrived in Dublin, I had to pay (unexpectedly) for it to be released, so it would be trucked to Cork.
I think you should read this post I wrote to be prepared for what you might need.
http://irelandmoveclub.com/customs-clearance-ireland-shipped-personal-effects/

I was never told by the company in the US that I would need to do anything more, even though they "send stuff to Ireland all the time". Come on! It'd be nice to know this stuff ahead of time, right?!

In the end, we did get everything, with very minimal damage. I really hope you will too. I know how important it is for the little ones to have their little treasures back 🙂

Ooooh, your experience sounds extremely similar. I am due to phone the shipping company again this weekend, in an attempt to obtain any sort of update (they never return phone calls or emails, it's excruciating). My girls' piano keyboard, needed for lessons, is perhaps my biggest concern. I fully expect it to be lost or damaged. Also some of the items shipped were in new condition, though had indeed been owned for more than six months (we began preparing for the move a year ago and purchased some shoes, a carseat, and other personal items at that time). All are out of box, no packaging, and had been used briefly. Here's hoping we don't have too many issues. Would be nice for ANY part of this move to go smoothly. We shipped our goods mid-July.

I do intend to battle the $500 "change of country" delivery charge after it arrives, by reporting to the US Better Business Bureau. *They* shipped it to the wrong country, yet charged us, and essentially held our shipment hostage until that $500 was paid. I also plan to leave some very honest reviews afterward.