We've lived here for a bit over two weeks now, and I've noticed some differences. I'm not sure if all of these are the same in all of Ireland, or if they're Galway specific, or if only this household does things this way. There may be some other differences that I don't know about, but these are just basic things.
There are a couple of things to note on the traffic/public transport. The biggest difference is the left-hand traffic.
The main public transport used in Galway are the buses. Bus Éireann is the bus operator. One adult fair costs 2,40€. You can get a Leap card from a vendor, which I think works similarly to the HSL card, but we didn't find the vendor.
There are two types of buses here in Galway: Double-deckers and "normal" buses. The double-deckers have a screen which shows the stops, which is super convenient! Sadly the low-floor buses don't have the screen, but you can survive with the help of Google Maps!
Another small thing we noticed is that people don't use turn signals as much, which annoyed us a little bit.
There's minor difference in the traffic lights as well! Sometimes the pedestrian traffic lights have a yellow/orange light.
A big difference here is the power outlet. If you're traveling to Ireland from Finland, you'll need an adapter. Another thing to note is that you'll need to turn on a power-switch next to the outlet for it to work. This was a thing I've never seen before, and am not sure if it's the same in the rest of Ireland.
I'm not sure if this is just the showers in our apartment, or if it's the same elsewhere, but our showers were a bit confusing at first. There was no shower valve, but instead there was a weird machine looking thing. You also needed to flick a switch on for the shower to work.
The faucet is a bit different as well. The hot water and the cold water come from separate faucets.
The weather is also different here. I can't speak for all the seasons of course, but I can tell you about the winter here in Galway. The temperature has been between 5 - 10 degrees Celsius. The weather itself changes really quickly. I've mentioned this in my other blog posts, but it can go from raining cats and dogs to clear and sunny weather in the span of 5 minutes.
The wind has been really strong here, so strong you could hear it through the windows. There have been 2 storms while we've been here. Another thing that's different here is hail. It doesn't hail too often in Finland, but hail is pretty common here.
Another difference we've noticed is the recycling. Again, I don't know if this is how all of Ireland recycles, but it's at least how we were instructed by our AirBnB host. There is one bin for almost all of the recyclables. Instead of having separate bins for things like paper, cardboard, cans, and plastic, they're all thrown into the same bin. This is really strange in my opinion but OH WELL.
There is a small difference in the convenience stores. Conveyor belts are really common, even in smaller stores, in Finland. However here in Ireland the small stores don't have them. Instead it's just a cashier table.
These were just a few differences I've noticed during my stay. I hope they were informative or useful!