Long term visits

Good Day,
I'm having difficulty getting anyone from the Irish Embassy or the Department of Tourism to respond to my emails, so I'm hoping to have better luck here in the forums.
My wife and I have always looked forward to the day when we could finally take a long term trip to Europe - starting with her family's ancestral homeland - Ireland.  I've learned Americans are allowed to stay up to 90 days on our passports, but frankly, I think we would like to stay a bit longer - learning about and experiencing Irish culture firsthand.  We don't need jobs, we're not interested in owning property (however we are hoping to find a really old cottage in the country to rent during our stay), and we are not interested in changing our citizenship status.
Does anyone have definitive information on whether such a long term visit is even possible?  Any links or current information you can share would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in Advance,
Ron and Sandy Lawrence

Hi Ron and Sandy,

It's wonderful to hear that you wish to come over and see us for such a long time, there certainly will be plenty to keep you busy!

Where on the island of Ireland is Sandy's family from?

As a US passport holder you can indeed stay up to 90 days, all other stays are classed as long term stays and require a Long Stay "D" visa. The criteria for which is to study, work or stay with a relative already resident in the Republic of Ireland. For further information, you may get in touch with the US embassy in Dublin

The rules for the UK are slightly different in that you can stay for up to 6 months without a visa as a US passport holder. This includes Northern Ireland as part of the UK.

With regards to accommodation, please have a look at our approved accommodation search page for some information. I have pre-selected self-catering as the type, simply enter in a destination to find what is available in the area.

I hope this helps and maybe some of your fellow members or industry partners will be able to add some advice too!

If you need any more help, just let me know!

Martin

Dear Martin,

Thank you very much for your timely response.

We believe Sandy's family emigrated to the U.S. from somewhere in Cork County.  We are guessing this happened in the late 1800's.  We are currently looking through our limited records to try and determine a more specific location.  Unfortunately, we have no ties or contacts with any of her extended family.  All we know at this point is her family's surname was Murray at the time of emigration.  I can imagine the name "Murray" in Ireland is probably even more common than the name "Smith" is here in the United States.  Doing the research and finding the village her family is from is really the delight and splendor we are looking forward to.  Isn't it amazing to think all contact with any family that was left behind in Ireland has been lost to us in just 150 years?

It sounds like we will not qualify for any of the three legitimate classifications for a Long Stay "D" Visa.  We have no known family there, we are not students, and we are retired.....so that, as they say, is that.

So my next question is, how long would we have to be out of Country to "reset" the 90 day limit?  Is it possible to stay in Cork for 90 days, travel to Northern Ireland for a period of time, then be welcome back for another 90 days?  I realize this is probably considered bending the rules a bit, and we certainly would never do anything that might put us in violation of your laws, but would this be allowed?

Thank you very much for taking the time to help us.  We eagerly await your response - 
Ron and Sandy

Hello Ron and Sandy.

I'm delighted to hear you're doing some research to find out more about your ancestors! If you want to dig a bit deeper into the roots of your family tree, I would suggest reading carefully both the three-step guide and those helpful tips. Hopefully, you will be able to find the records and the specific location as well!

Regarding your next question, unfortunately we are not in a position to advise you on how to stay longer than 90 days in Ireland. My suggestion for you is that you should contact the US Embassy in Dublin to get further information regarding this.

I hope you will find the above links useful for your search. If you need anything else, please don't hesitate to get in touch again.

Francesco