Irish Citizenship by Descent – are you entitled?

There are two grounds on which a person can claim Irish citizenship by descent:

• If they have a grandparent who was born on the island of Ireland; or
• If their parent was born outside of Ireland but was an Irish citizen at the time of their child’s birth

In both cases, the application for citizenship is made through a Foreign Birth Registration application.

The application is made to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and requires a variety of supporting documents to be submitted such as original birth, marriage and death certificates.

For citizenship applications on the basis of descent alone, the main requirement is to prove you fit within one of the two categories above – there is no requirement to show any period of residence in Ireland.

Once the application is approved, a person is deemed to be an Irish citizen and can apply for their Irish passport.

If neither of the above cases apply, then there is no entitlement to Irish citizenship through descent alone – although depending on the particular circumstances, it may still be possible to apply for citizenship on the basis of Irish Associations.

To be eligible for citizenship on the basis of Irish Associations, a person must show that, in addition to Irish ancestry/descent/Irish citizen family members, they have a sufficiently strong connection to Ireland – this is assessed by looking at factors such as frequent visits to Ireland, periods of residence in Ireland, involvement with cultural, sporting or other activities/groups which have contributed significantly to Ireland, etc. For more information on applications on the basis of Irish Associations check out our article: “New guidelines published for Irish citizenship applications on the basis of Irish Descent and Irish Associations”.

If you are interested in applying for Irish citizenship on the basis of Irish descent or Irish associations, we would be happy to meet with you for an initial consultation to advise you on your eligibility and the application process. Please email us at info@mcrathmullan.ie or call us on +353 (0) 1 873 5012 for more information.

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• Upcoming Changes to Employment Permits Remuneration
• Change of Employer Applications
• Thinking of Selling your Property? These are the Documents you Need.
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• What documents do I need when applying for Foreign Birth Registration? Are there alternatives to what is asked for?
• Employment Visa Appeal
• eConveyancing in Ireland
• Continuous Residence and Naturalisation
• Eligibility for a Stamp 4 EUFAM application based on marriage or de facto partnership with an EEA National