An apostille confirms a signature, not the content. Here is how that simple rule shapes apostilles on Irish documents, on foreign documents used in Ireland, and on translations.
An apostille is one of the most requested and least understood documents in international paperwork. People ask for "an apostilled translation" as if the apostille were a quality mark. It is not. It is a certificate, issued under the 1961 Hague Convention, that confirms who signed or stamped a public document. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs puts it in two sentences:
Once that is clear, most apostille questions answer themselves. The apostille has to come from the country whose official signed the document. An Irish apostille can only vouch for Irish signatures; a Polish apostille can only vouch for Polish ones. This guide explains how that works for Irish documents going abroad, for foreign documents coming into Ireland, and for translations in both directions.
Which stamp you need depends on where the document is going. Countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention accept a single apostille. For countries outside the Convention, the DFA issues an authentication stamp instead, and the document must then be presented to that country's embassy in Ireland (or sometimes in the United Kingdom) for counter-signing. The DFA advises checking with the requesting authority abroad first, because it cannot tell you whether your document needs legalisation at all.
Within the EU, Regulation 2016/1191 removed the apostille requirement for many civil-status documents. The DFA lists the Irish documents covered:
Certified copies of those documents are exempt too. If you are sending an Irish birth certificate or a Garda police certificate to another EU country, check with the receiving authority before paying for an apostille you may not need. In the other direction, ISD visa guidance says civil-status documents issued by a state within the EEA or Switzerland do not need to be attested. For more on the EU forms that come with this regulation, see our guide to EU multilingual standard forms.
The DFA is the competent authority for Irish public documents, and it is strict about the Irish link: it states that it "cannot legalise foreign documents", and documents must show a clear Irish connection, such as an Irish address, Irish passport details or an Irish company registration number. Its list of documents accepted without prior certification includes GRO birth, death and marriage certificates (where the EU regulation does not apply), naturalisation certificates, Garda clearance certificates, Irish court documents such as divorce decrees, Irish educational certificates from bodies recognised by the Department of Education or QQI, the Leaving Certificate, and documents issued by the CRO and Revenue.
Private documents, such as affidavits, powers of attorney and company documents, generally need to be certified by a notary public or solicitor first. The DFA notes that you may need to have a document notarised before it can be apostilled.
This is where the rules become most specific. If you want an Irish apostille on a translation of an Irish document, the DFA sets out exactly who may translate it:
The translation and original must be bound together, and the notary's certification must be on the English version or on a covering notarial certificate. In other words, the Irish route has three parts: a translator registered with ATII or an Irish CRO-registered company, an Irish notary public, and then the DFA.
We do not offer that route: we do not provide translations under the DFA's registered-translator criteria, Irish notarisation or DFA legalisation of translations. If your destination country specifically needs an Irish apostille on a translation of an Irish document, you will need a translator who meets the DFA criteria. It is often worth asking the receiving authority first whether it will accept the apostilled Irish original together with a certified translation made separately, because some authorities only need the apostille on the public document itself.
The DFA's refusal list contains some points worth knowing before you spend money:
The same list excludes multilingual standard forms, documents presented solely in a language other than English or Irish, and dual-language documents where the notary has only certified the foreign-language part. The DFA also asks that dual-language documents not translated by a registered translator use the word "version" rather than "translation".
Because an apostille can only confirm a signature from the issuing country, foreign public documents used in Ireland are apostilled, where needed, in the country that issued them. Irish visa guidance from Immigration Service Delivery states this directly for civil-status documents from outside the EEA and Switzerland, and adds a rule about translations that surprises many applicants:
ISD states that rule on its visa pages. For your visa application, our translation is certified and signed in the EU, inside the EEA, so this rule does not call for an apostille on it. ISD still expects hard copies, which you can add by tracked post at checkout, and original civil documents issued outside the EEA may still need an apostille or legalisation from the issuing country. We explain what it means for visa applicants in our guide to Irish visa translation requirements.
The Irish courts treat apostilles in the same way. Under the Circuit Court rules, a document bearing a Hague Convention apostille "shall without further proof be deemed to be such and shall be admissible as evidence of the facts stated therein unless the contrary is shown". See our guide to court and probate translations for the translation side of court filings.
The DFA charges €40 per authentication or apostille stamp, and €100 per adoption dossier.
The DFA's offices in Dublin and Cork issue physical stamps on physical documents; it does not currently offer a digital service.
Postal applications take an average of 3 to 7 working days from receipt, excluding postage; the walk-in service targets thirty minutes.
Certificates issued by religious organisations, such as baptism and religious marriage certificates, are on the DFA's list of documents it will not legalise.
Documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents cannot be apostilled directly; they are authenticated first, and the authentication can then be apostilled.
Our apostille service covers our own translations only, not original documents.
Apostille certification costs €149.95 with digital delivery, or €199.95 with a shipped hard copy by tracked post. The translation itself is €29.95 per page (up to 300 source words), with most orders of one to three pages delivered within 24 hours. Every translation carries a signed Certificate of Accuracy, the translator's name and signature, our company address, phone number and email, a company stamp and a reference number. Read more on our apostille service page, or get a quote and tell us which country the document is going to.
Checked 25 September 2026. Rules change, so confirm with the receiving body before you apply.
Upload your document for an instant per-page price. Free digital delivery, most orders returned within 24 hours.
