Here is what $800 (€560 euro) will get you in rural ireland close to where I live http://www.daft.ie/lettings/stoneybatter-lane-inistioge-kilkenny/1385311/ Pretty basic house but the area itself is very pretty: https://www.google.com/search?q=inistioge&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=hPpvU9yJKvjMsQS294GwCw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1366&bih=643 All depends on what you are looking for i guess.
If rural Ireland is anything like the rural US then you understand that most people simply can't live there. Many families only survive on seasonal labor, hunting, and gardening. What jobs are available will likely be distributed via nepotism, which is hard if you're new to the area, and near impossible if you're a minority of some sort.
Well rural U.S. is also remote, rural Ireland due to the size of the country cannot really be considered remote. At least nowhere near the same scale. I don't think you are ever more than 3-4 hours drive from the capital city (Dublin) no matter where on the island you live... Unemployment is pretty high at the moment but even so there is not a lot of subsistence hunting or farming. Many smaller towns with easy commute have retail, tourism, services related work. There is also a pretty healthy IT sector here so if you have qualifications you will get a job (maybe not as well paid as in other countries though). Many people (myself included) would live in a relatively rural area and commute to a larger town for work.