So now I live in Ireland, I'm married to an Irish guy. And we are trying to get our lives started here. We want to buy a home, have credit cards. But of course before that can happen I need some credit. What can I do to get that started?

Do Irish banks/credit companies have secured credit cards? When I moved to the US I faced the same problem and dealt with it by getting a secured credit card through a bank. Basically you give them however much money you want your credit limit to be (eg: $500) and you can use your card like a credit card. You have to pay it off the same way and get charged interest on those purchases. After a certain amount of time (6-12 months) you can get your money back and be issued with a real credit card.

You could put some money in the bank, say 500eur, then take out a secured loan against that 500. Don't spend any of the money, just pay it back on time every month. That should help you get started.

Be careful with credit cards, though...they're a slippery slope.