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Rosie O'Donnell, who moved to Ireland from the US this year. Alamy Stock Photo
irish passport
High demand for Irish passports from US-applicants, with jump in UK requests post Brexit
There were over one million applications for Irish passports in total last year.
A HIGH NUMBER of applicants from the US have applied for an Irish passport this year, with the latest figures for this year showing 26,111 applications have been submitted.
While those numbers account for the first eight months of 2025, the year in which Donald Trump became American president for the second time, they have surpassed the 2022 figures.
One of the more famous applicants is comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who is in the process of applying for an Irish passport through descent, according to The Irish Times.
Last year, a record number of 31,825 applications from US-based applicants were received. This is the highest number since 2016.
In 2022, 25,736 were submitted from those based in the US, while in 2023, 29,014 applications were received.
It is not just Americans that have been seeking to get an Irish passport in their pocket.
Increase in UK applications post Brexit
Numbers show that there has also been an increase in UK based applicants post Brexit.
Since 2016, there has been continual growth in the number of applications from the UK.
In 2016, the year those in the UK voted to leave the European Union, there were 131,633.
The peak was in 2019, when there were 244,976 applications from those based in the UK.
From 2022-2024, the figures are just shy off that mark. This year to date has seen 152,416 applications received.
For context, the total passport applications received last year 1,000,640, with 603,782 applications being submitted so far this year.
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