Overview

When using Irish documents overseas, for business or personal reasons, you might need to 'authenticate' or 'Apostille' them. The Department of Foreign Affairs are the competent authority who confirm that a signature, seal or stamp is from an Irish public official / body, and who issue a physical apostille or authentication stamp on the document. Authenticating / apostilling a document doesn't mean that the Department of Foreign Affairs is verifying that its contents are accurate or that the Department approves of its contents.

Irish public documents (including notarised, private company documents with a clear Irish link) can be authenticated.

We cannot advise on whether a document requires authentication. This is a matter for individual to find out. Contact the authorities in the country where the document will be used.

Only the Authentications Section based in Dublin / Cork can carry this out. Embassies and Consulates cannot issue an Apostille of authentication stamp.