How to Get an Irish Passport by Descent: Parent and Grandparent Routes

How to get an Irish passport by descent depends on one question: was your Irish parent or your Irish grandparent the one born in Ireland? With an Irish-born parent, you’re already a citizen and can apply for the passport today. With an Irish-born grandparent, you register first, wait about a year, and then apply.

Either way, the passport itself is the easy part. It costs €75 online and takes around 20 working days. This guide on how to get an Irish passport by descent covers both routes, the documents each needs and the traps that stall them. For everything about the citizenship claim itself, see our guide to Irish citizenship by descent.

How to Get an Irish Passport by Descent: The Two Routes

There are two ways to get an Irish passport by descent. If a parent was born on the island of Ireland, you’re Irish from birth and apply for the passport directly. If only a grandparent was born there, you must register on the Foreign Births Register first, then apply once you’re a citizen.

Most people we hear from are in the second row and don’t know it yet. They’ve been told for years that “Granny was from Mayo, so we’re all Irish,” then discover there’s a registration standing between them and the passport.

Irish Passport Through an Irish-Born Parent

If your parent was born on the island of Ireland, you can apply for an Irish passport straight away, because you’ve been a citizen since birth. For a first passport, the Department of Foreign Affairs asks for your long-form birth certificate, your Irish-born parent’s long-form birth certificate, and marriage certificates wherever a surname has changed.

Northern Ireland counts. A parent born in Belfast puts you in exactly the same position as one born in Dublin. There’s one wrinkle for younger parents: someone born in Ireland on or after 1 January 2005 wasn’t automatically Irish unless their own parent was Irish or British, or had three years’ residence there.

Can I Get an Irish Passport Through My Grandparents?

Yes, you can get an Irish passport through your grandparents if one of them was born on the island of Ireland, but not directly. You first register on the Foreign Births Register, which costs €278 for adults and takes about 12 months. Once you’re entered on the register you’re an Irish citizen, and you apply for the passport with your registration certificate.

The department won’t accept a passport application alongside the registration, because you aren’t a citizen until the registration goes through. Our guide to the Foreign Births Register covers the documents, the witness rules and the common mistakes.

A great-grandparent only works if your parent was registered before you were born. If not, the descent route stops with your parent. That parent can still register, but you can’t follow.

How to Get an Irish Passport: Applying Online

To get an Irish passport, most first-time applicants use Passport Online, which works from anywhere in the world. You need a digital photo, a payment card, an email address and a printer. During the application you print an identity form, which a witness signs to confirm who you are, and you post it with your supporting documents.

Irish Passport Fees and Processing Times

An adult ten-year Irish passport costs €75 through Passport Online, or €80 by post, with an extra €15 postage for first-time applicants abroad. A child’s five-year passport costs €20 online. First-time online applications take about 20 working days on average, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. International postage comes on top.

For the grandparent route, budget roughly 14 months or more from posting the registration to holding the passport. With an Irish-born parent, you can have it within weeks of applying.

What an Irish Passport by Descent Gets You

An Irish passport by descent gives the same rights as any other Irish passport. You can live and work in 31 European countries, the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, and in the UK through the Common Travel Area. It reaches 185 visa-free destinations and ranks 21st of 198 on our Passport Freedom Index.

Ireland allows dual citizenship, so you keep your existing passport. Holding an Irish one doesn’t make you tax resident in Ireland; that depends on time spent there. Americans keep filing US returns wherever they live, which is worth knowing before you plan a move.

Common Mistakes When Getting an Irish Passport by Descent

Most delays come from treating the passport as the first step. These are the mistakes we see most often.

If your claim has any of these wrinkles, it’s worth having the document chain checked before you post anything. Our Irish citizenship service handles the whole process, from the register to the passport.

Irish Passport by Descent vs Other Ways to Become Irish

Descent is the only route that needs no time in Ireland. Without an Irish-born parent or grandparent, you’d need five years of residence in the last nine to naturalise, or three years if married to an Irish citizen, as set out in our guide to Irish citizenship requirements.

Those residence rules are likely to tighten. A bill now being drafted would raise the five years to eight, as covered in our report on the new Irish citizenship rules. The descent route isn’t affected. Plenty of Irish families also have Canadian roots, and our Canadian eligibility checker takes about a minute.

Irish Passport by Descent FAQ

Final Thoughts on Getting an Irish Passport by Descent

How to get an Irish passport by descent comes down to which generation was born in Ireland. An Irish-born parent means a passport within weeks. An Irish-born grandparent means a year on the register first. Either way, start ordering certificates now, and read our Foreign Births Register guide if the grandparent route is yours.