Reacquiring Lost Citizenship in Ireland

This is a question of descent, not reacquisition. Find out who in your direct line was born on the island of Ireland and how many generations back, then look at the citizenship by descent route.

A parent born on the island makes you a citizen already. A grandparent born there entitles you to enter the Foreign Births Register. A great-grandparent works only if your parent was registered before you were born.

Emigrating never cost anyone Irish citizenship, so an ancestor who left and naturalised elsewhere did not lose it, and nothing needs undoing. A living parent who is entitled but unregistered can still register, which helps children born afterwards but not those already born.

Start with the civil birth certificate of the family member born in Ireland, and count the generations down to you.

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