Irish Passport - Physical Appearance

Physical Appearance

Irish passports use the standard European Union design, with a machine-readable identity page and 34, 48 or 64 visa pages. The cover bears the harp, the national symbol of Ireland. The words on the cover are in both of Ireland's official languages, Irish and English. The top of the cover page reads An tAontas Eorpach and the equivalent in English, European Union. Just above the harp are the words Éire and its equivalent in English, Ireland. The identity page on older Irish passports was on the back cover of the booklet. Newly-issued passports have been redesigned with additional security features. The identity page is now a plastic card attached between the front cover and the first visa page.

The ePassport or biometric passport, was launched on 16 October 2006 with the first ePassports presented that day by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

• Photo of passport holder, printed in greyscale.
• Type (P)
• Country (IRL)
• Passport No.
• 1. Surname
• 2. Forename(s)
• 3. Nationality (ÉIREANNACH/IRISH)
• 4. Date of Birth
• 5. Sex
• 6. Place of birth (county of birth if born on the island of Ireland (all 32 counties), country of birth if born elsewhere.)
• 7. Date of issue
• 8. Date of expiry
• 9. Authority
• 10. Signature

The information page ends with the machine readable zone starting with P