if it looks suss, they ask you to drop it into a little cage beside gate check in which identifies the permitted dimensions. if it doesn't fit in the cage, then it is not hand luggage.
They wont let you push it in either.Yet you see some people getting through with big hand bags.If you do risk it and they say no and you have already put your case through they will want to charge you a hell of olot of money to put the bag in the hold.I had to dump somethings in the waste bin before i got through.then when i went through nobody checked the bag.
I wouldn't put it past Ryanair to levy a surcharge if a male passenger's manhood is too big, and a penalty if it is too small. They seem to have attached a revenue to everything else. 1p flight becomes sixty-three billion pounds. Give me the car ferry any day.
They are robbing a******s! I don't wish bad on anyone but if there was one person I hope goes out of business, it's that thief! They charge you for everything!
Came back by Ryanair yesterday - they have a gauge thing that they make you put the bag in, some people were shoving theirs in to make them fit. Didn't see any getting weighed though.
As others have said they do measure it and they are pretty strict about it too.
Make sure you measure and weigh carefully before you go or you'll end up being charged an arm and a leg for it.
Just for fun, have a look at this.