Festoon Lights Ireland: How to Light Your Garden and Patio (2026 Buying Guide)

Festoon lights are the quickest way to turn a garden, patio or party into somewhere you actually want to sit after dark, and choosing festoon lights in Ireland comes down to three simple decisions. First, pick the style that suits the space, whether that is a classic run of warm white bulbs slung between two posts, a curtain of icicle lights along the eaves, or a long connectable string threaded through a pergola. Second, check the weather rating, because anything living outside through an Irish winter needs to shrug off rain and coastal damp, so look for an IP44 rating or better. Third, plan how you will power the run safely, since an outdoor set belongs on a weatherproof socket rather than a lead trailing through a window. This guide walks you through all three so your lights look brilliant on the first dry evening and keep working through the wet ones.

In this guide

• What types of festoon and outdoor string lights are there?
• What IP rating do festoon lights need in Ireland?
• Warm white or cool white bulbs for the garden?
• How do you power festoon lights outdoors safely?
• How much length and how many sets do you need?
• Frequently asked questions

What types of festoon and outdoor string lights are there?

The easiest way to plan a display is to picture the shape of light you want before you look at any product. A run of festoon bulbs gives you that warm cafe feel overhead, a set of icicle lights drops a soft curtain down a wall or fence, and a fine connectable string threads neatly through planting or railings for a subtle glow. Here is how the three main styles compare before we look at each one.

Style	Best for	Look	Typical run
Festoon bulbs	Slinging overhead across a patio or garden	Warm cafe glow with visible bulbs	10 metres and up, spaced bulbs
String lights	Wrapping railings, trees and pergolas	Fine points of light, subtle sparkle	12 metres and up, dense LEDs
Icicle lights	Dropping a curtain down eaves or a fence	Hanging drops of light	5 metres, connectable end to end

Festoon bulb sets

Festoon is the classic party and patio look, a stout cable with evenly spaced bulbs that you sling between two fixed points and leave up all summer. Modern sets use warm white LED bulbs that sip power and stay cool to the touch, so they are safe over a seating area and cheap to run all evening. Space your fixing points so the cable hangs in a gentle scallop rather than pulling tight, and you have the cafe garden look in an afternoon. If your favourite festoon set is between deliveries, the connectable string and icicle sets below give you the same warm glow and are ready to go now.

Connectable string lights

A long string of fine LEDs is the most flexible option in the range. You can weave it through a pergola, wrap it up a tree, or run it along a fence, and because the better sets use an easy coupler you can join several together from a single plug. Look for a clear warm white for a natural sparkle and a weatherproof rating so it lives outside happily.

Icicle and curtain lights

Icicle lights hang a series of short drops from a horizontal cable, giving you a soft curtain of light down the front of a house, along a fence, or under the eaves of a garden room. The better sets connect end to end so you can carry the effect right across a frontage, and a warm white keeps it cosy rather than clinical. They fold away neatly at the end of the season too.

What IP rating do festoon lights need in Ireland?

Any lighting that lives outside in Ireland has to cope with rain, wind and, near the coast, a good deal of salt in the air, so the IP rating is the number that matters most. IP stands for ingress protection, and the second digit tells you how well the fitting keeps water out. For festoon and string lights slung under cover or along a wall, IP44 is the sensible minimum, and it handles the splashing rain you get on an exposed patio. If part of the run sits fully in the open or takes a battering off the sea, step up to a higher rating for peace of mind.

Rating	Protection	Where it suits
IP44	Splashing water from any direction	Covered patios, walls and pergolas
IP54 to IP55	Dust and stronger jets of rain	Open gardens and exposed frontages
IP65 and up	Powerful jets and heavy weather	Coastal sites and fully open runs

Warm white or cool white bulbs for the garden?

Colour temperature changes the whole mood of a display, and it is worth a moment of thought before you buy. Warm white sits around 2700 to 3000 kelvin and gives that golden cafe glow that feels relaxed over a dining table or seating area, which is why most people reach for it in a garden. Cool white is crisper and brighter, closer to daylight, so it reads as festive and eye catching across a big frontage or a run of railings. If in doubt for a patio, warm white is the safer choice, and you can always mix a cool white string into a seasonal display when you want extra sparkle.

How do you power festoon lights outdoors safely?

The lights themselves are low power, but how you feed them matters. An outdoor set should plug into a proper weatherproof socket rather than an indoor one with a lead run out through a window or door, because a trapped cable wears through and a wet indoor plug is a real hazard. A weatherproof outdoor socket rated IP56 gives you a safe, permanent point to power a festoon run, a water feature or a lawnmower, and it keeps the connection sealed against the rain.

Fitting a new outdoor socket, or any new circuit that feeds one, is mains work, and in Ireland that must be carried out by a Registered Electrical Contractor under the Safe Electric scheme, who will issue a Completion Certificate for the job. Plugging a weatherproof set into an existing outdoor socket is something you can do yourself, but adding the socket in the first place is one to leave to a registered electrician.

How much length and how many sets do you need?

Measure the run before you buy, then add a little slack for the gentle drape that gives festoon its character. As a rough guide, one 10 metre festoon set crosses a small patio, a 12 metre string wraps a decent sized tree or a pergola, and two or three connectable sets carry a display along a full garden boundary. Because the better sets in this range use easy couplers, you can start with one and add more later, so it is fine to buy for the space you have now and extend next summer. Just check the maximum number of sets the maker allows on a single plug, which is often around four, so you do not overload the first connection.

Frequently asked questions

Are festoon lights suitable for the Irish weather?

Yes, as long as you choose a set rated for outdoor use. Look for IP44 as a minimum for a covered patio or wall, and step up to IP54 or higher for an open garden or a coastal site where the run takes the full force of the weather. Bring cheaper indoor only sets inside over winter.

Can I leave festoon lights up all year?

A good quality outdoor rated set is designed to stay up through the seasons, so a warm white festoon or string on an IP44 or better cable can happily live outside all year. If your set is only rated for occasional use or is showing wear on the cable, take it down and store it dry over the worst of the winter.

Do festoon lights use a lot of electricity?

No. Modern LED festoon and string lights draw only a few watts across a whole run, so even left on for several hours every evening they cost very little across a summer at normal Irish electricity rates. They also run cool, which makes them safe to leave on over a seating area.

Can I connect several sets of string lights together?

Many of the sets in this range use an easy coupler so you can link several together from a single plug, which is how you carry a display along a long boundary. Check the maker guidance for the maximum number of sets on one connection, often around four, so you do not overload the first plug.

Do I need an electrician to install festoon lights?

Not to hang and plug in a weatherproof set, which is a straightforward job you can do yourself using an existing outdoor socket. You do need a Registered Electrical Contractor to fit a new outdoor socket or circuit, and they will issue a Completion Certificate under the Safe Electric scheme.

Related reading: for the full picture on lighting a garden, see our outdoor lights buying guide, and if you would rather avoid cables altogether our guide to solar garden lights in Ireland covers what really works in our climate.