Irish Translation Services

Where Irish is spoken and where your translation is accepted

Irish (Gaeilge) is a Celtic language. The Constitution of Ireland, of 1937, makes it the national language and the first official language of the country, with English as the second, and it has been an official language of the European Union since 2007. In Northern Ireland it was officially recognized in 2022. It is spoken every day in the Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking areas in parts of Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork and Waterford, and in the 2022 census almost 1.9 million people in Ireland said they could speak it. In practice, most documents from Ireland are issued in English, or in English and Irish side by side, so tell us which language your document is in. The destination decides the type of translation.

Irish translation services for Ireland and Northern Ireland

Irish is close to Scottish Gaelic and Manx, and it has three main dialects, from Ulster, Connacht and Munster, but official documents follow the official standard spelling. A good translation follows the Irish of the original, keeps every letter of the names and reads naturally to whoever receives it.

• Irish or English: many documents from Ireland, such as the birth certificate, are bilingual, with the headings in Irish and English and the entries in English. In that case the translation is made from the English text, and a document written only in English needs a translation from English, not from Irish. Send the document as it is and we tell you before quoting.
• Letters: Irish uses the Latin alphabet with the long accent (síneadh fada) on á, é, í, ó and ú, and the accent changes the meaning, so Seán is a name and sean means old. American documents often drop the accent, so Seán becomes Sean and Siobhán becomes Siobhan. The translation keeps every name exactly as in the original, so tell us the form used in your US documents when you order.
• Names: surnames change with gender, so a man is Ó Briain or Mac Mathúna and a woman is Ní Bhriain or Nic Mhathúna, and the same family may appear in English as O'Brien or McMahon. The translation never adapts a name: it keeps the spelling of the original, and differences between your documents are something to point out when you order. Proper names are not translated: in a document translation, Michael stays Michael and Mícheál stays Mícheál, as in the original.
• Places, dates and numbers: places have an Irish name of their own, so Dublin is Baile Átha Cliath, Cork is Corcaigh and Galway is Gaillimh, and in the Gaeltacht the official place names are in Irish only. Dates come in day, month and year order, with the months in Irish, as in 3 Deireadh Fómhair 2026, which is October 3, 2026, and decimals use a point, as in English.
• Documents from Ireland: the birth certificate (teastas breithe), the marriage certificate (teastas pósta), the Leaving Certificate (Ardteistiméireacht), which can be taken through Irish, school reports from Irish-medium schools (Gaelscoileanna) and documents from Gaeltacht bodies. The translation reproduces every stamp, seal and note.