General Information on Irish Citizenship

Information leaflet No. 1

Changes in the law

The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004 contains significant provisions relating to citizenship of persons born in the island of Ireland. These provisions came into operation on 1 January 2005.

The changes which came into effect on that date mainly relate to the entitlement to Irish citizenship of persons born to certain non-Irish nationals.

Disclaimer

The laws governing citizenship in Ireland are set out in the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004. The purpose of this leaflet is to provide general information on the provisions of those laws which are currently in force and on your entitlement, if any, to Irish citizenship.

This leaflet is not a legal interpretation.

CONTENTS

1.1 Who can be an Irish citizen?

Citizenship through birth in Ireland
Citizenship through descent

1.2 Declaration of post-nuptial citizenship.
1.3 Naturalisation.
1.4 What legislation is involved?
1.5 Frequently asked questions about Irish citizenship.
1.6 Useful contacts.

For full text, see General Information on Irish Citizenship (pdf size 63kb) Updated 14-07-2009 

(Updated August 2009)