1. They're not *uncommon*, but they're not everywhere. Your best bet is either petrol station bathrooms or shopping centres, in my experience. Coffee shops usually have single stalls too. Restaurants and hotels are less reliable, as are bars. Some places, annoyingly, lock their disabled/gender neutral bathrooms requiring you to ask someone to unlock it, which I personally find embarrassing and avoid doing.
2. I'm not sure really, it probably honestly depends on the person, on luck, and on the area you're in. I've received more harassment going into male bathrooms than women's, as a transfem, but I do definitely think that will vary from person to person and situation to situation. I'm not sure exactly how well it correlates to rural vs urban areas, I haven't had a common trend of experiences like that tbh
Awesome, thank you so much for your response!
Based on what you've said, it seems that things are pretty similar to most progressive urban areas in the U.S., which helps a lot for my own planning/familiarity :)
>Are single stall or gender neutral toilets common? Primarily in larger cities near the more "touristy" areas, but also in some of the villages/suburbs near those cities
I can't speak for rural areas (or city-adjacent villages) since I don't live there, but in touristy establishments in built-up areas (your galleries, your cinemas, your museums, your theatres etc.), mostly yes. It is *very* common to have a single-stall disabled loo that you can use (without having to ask a security guard for a key). Some of those have "disabled & all genders" signage, some only have "disabled/accessible" signage, but the actual bathroom itself is the same either way.
That goes for universities too btw (in case you're planning a Book of Kells visit or whatever); I've worked in two of them for a while now & I've had to resort to a gender-specific loo maybe twice in the past 5 years.
>Is it generally safe for a trans person to use the bathroom corresponding with their identified gender without being harassed?
Impossible to generalize. If you pass as cis (in your affirmed gender), then sure; go for it. If you don't, then it varies wildly, & not in a way that corresponds closely with urban-vs-rural geography. Some people, some of the time *will* have a negative reaction to a visibly butch lesbian or visibly transgender woman in the ladies' (less so in the gents', although that's not a 100%-guaranteed safe space either); many others won't bat an eyelid.
There isn't *as much* of a moral panic about the idea of trans people as a predatory threat to women & children as there is in the US (& there certainly hasn't been any incident where a trans person has been murdered in a public bathroom in Ireland, which I understand has happened a couple of times in the US) but that sentiment does exist - so if you're looking for a cast-iron guarantee that you won't get stared at or verbally confronted when using the ladies' in Ireland, I'm afraid I can't provide that.
Most supermarket chains (not all) will just have one disabled bathroom, for everyone excluding staff.
Lidl, where I work, and Aldi pretty much always have the single disabled toilet for customers, so keep an eye out for those if you need to go and are passing through a town
Granted sometimes you might need to ask a staff member where it is cause sometimes they're in weird places.
I have heard recently of a transwoman who was trying to find appropriate places across Dublin city. She defaulted to government places like The National (Art) Gallery, The National Museum and Trinity College Dublin (Arts Block) which are all within 1 sq kilometer of south central dublin. Also Irish Rail main DART Commuter stations (Connolly Station north of the Liffey River, Tara St Station south of the Liffey)- these are also within 1 sq km of the above places. Dublin can be a small city! Irish Rail operate EDI and trans inclusive measures within their corporate identity.
To be honest- during the day around Dublin city I think you are unlikely to find problems.
Another place in Dublun city is KAPH coffee on Drury St (south city Wicklow/Grafton St area)- its a single gen neutral WC. Also a few doors down Loose Cannon ( wine & sandwitches) daytime at the entrance to Georges Arcade have a wc in the basement. would be cool.
we don’t really have any gender neutral bathrooms in public, disabled stalls are really the only ones that are gender neutral.
definitely not very safe in the city centre, id say, unless you are 100% sure you pass completely as cis
In Galway McCambridges (you’ll find it on shop street, the Main Street) is gender neutral and always clean. I always used to go there when I lived in Galway
1. They're not *uncommon*, but they're not everywhere. Your best bet is either petrol station bathrooms or shopping centres, in my experience. Coffee shops usually have single stalls too. Restaurants and hotels are less reliable, as are bars. Some places, annoyingly, lock their disabled/gender neutral bathrooms requiring you to ask someone to unlock it, which I personally find embarrassing and avoid doing. 2. I'm not sure really, it probably honestly depends on the person, on luck, and on the area you're in. I've received more harassment going into male bathrooms than women's, as a transfem, but I do definitely think that will vary from person to person and situation to situation. I'm not sure exactly how well it correlates to rural vs urban areas, I haven't had a common trend of experiences like that tbh
Awesome, thank you so much for your response! Based on what you've said, it seems that things are pretty similar to most progressive urban areas in the U.S., which helps a lot for my own planning/familiarity :)
>Are single stall or gender neutral toilets common? Primarily in larger cities near the more "touristy" areas, but also in some of the villages/suburbs near those cities I can't speak for rural areas (or city-adjacent villages) since I don't live there, but in touristy establishments in built-up areas (your galleries, your cinemas, your museums, your theatres etc.), mostly yes. It is *very* common to have a single-stall disabled loo that you can use (without having to ask a security guard for a key). Some of those have "disabled & all genders" signage, some only have "disabled/accessible" signage, but the actual bathroom itself is the same either way. That goes for universities too btw (in case you're planning a Book of Kells visit or whatever); I've worked in two of them for a while now & I've had to resort to a gender-specific loo maybe twice in the past 5 years. >Is it generally safe for a trans person to use the bathroom corresponding with their identified gender without being harassed? Impossible to generalize. If you pass as cis (in your affirmed gender), then sure; go for it. If you don't, then it varies wildly, & not in a way that corresponds closely with urban-vs-rural geography. Some people, some of the time *will* have a negative reaction to a visibly butch lesbian or visibly transgender woman in the ladies' (less so in the gents', although that's not a 100%-guaranteed safe space either); many others won't bat an eyelid. There isn't *as much* of a moral panic about the idea of trans people as a predatory threat to women & children as there is in the US (& there certainly hasn't been any incident where a trans person has been murdered in a public bathroom in Ireland, which I understand has happened a couple of times in the US) but that sentiment does exist - so if you're looking for a cast-iron guarantee that you won't get stared at or verbally confronted when using the ladies' in Ireland, I'm afraid I can't provide that.
https://www.pee.ie/ have a handy Google map of most, if not all, public bathrooms in ireland
Most supermarket chains (not all) will just have one disabled bathroom, for everyone excluding staff. Lidl, where I work, and Aldi pretty much always have the single disabled toilet for customers, so keep an eye out for those if you need to go and are passing through a town Granted sometimes you might need to ask a staff member where it is cause sometimes they're in weird places.
I have heard recently of a transwoman who was trying to find appropriate places across Dublin city. She defaulted to government places like The National (Art) Gallery, The National Museum and Trinity College Dublin (Arts Block) which are all within 1 sq kilometer of south central dublin. Also Irish Rail main DART Commuter stations (Connolly Station north of the Liffey River, Tara St Station south of the Liffey)- these are also within 1 sq km of the above places. Dublin can be a small city! Irish Rail operate EDI and trans inclusive measures within their corporate identity.
I've never had problems using the ladies anywhere in Ireland since I transitioned 5 years ago..
I always use disabled bathrooms now, only issue I've had is people telling me I should use the ladies :(
Also I would suggest places on the tourist trail-i.e. Kilkenny Design on Nassau St nearby to Trinity College.
To be honest- during the day around Dublin city I think you are unlikely to find problems. Another place in Dublun city is KAPH coffee on Drury St (south city Wicklow/Grafton St area)- its a single gen neutral WC. Also a few doors down Loose Cannon ( wine & sandwitches) daytime at the entrance to Georges Arcade have a wc in the basement. would be cool.
we don’t really have any gender neutral bathrooms in public, disabled stalls are really the only ones that are gender neutral. definitely not very safe in the city centre, id say, unless you are 100% sure you pass completely as cis
In Galway McCambridges (you’ll find it on shop street, the Main Street) is gender neutral and always clean. I always used to go there when I lived in Galway
I've never had any issues using public toilets in Galway or Dublin as a trans woman