.irish

Overview

• .irish is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) created to serve the Irish diaspora, Irish culture, businesses and organisations both in Ireland and worldwide.
• The string was applied for and is operated by Dot-Irish LLC (a for-profit company that applied from California) with registry services provided by Afilias.
• Technical characteristics noted in registry materials: DNSSEC enabled; internationalized domain names (IDNs) are not allowed.

History

• June 2012: Dot-Irish LLC submitted an application for the .irish gTLD as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program.
• 7 August 2014: ICANN and the applicant executed a Registry Agreement for .irish.
• 2 December 2014: .irish was delegated into the DNS Root Zone.
• March 2015: The TLD is listed as introduced in March 2015; registrations began on 17 March 2015.
• 25 June 2015: .irish reached General Availability (public registration opened).
• Parties involved: Dot-Irish LLC (manager/registry operator), Afilias (registry services provider), and TLD Assets LLC referenced in application materials.

Usage and Audience

• Intended audience: members of the Irish diaspora, organisations and individuals wishing to identify with Irish culture, heritage, commerce and tourism.
• Typical use cases highlighted in applicant materials include:
  • Cultural and community organisations
  • Businesses and brands wishing to signal Irish identity
  • Tourism, genealogy and heritage services
  • Charitable and transnational organisations connecting Ireland and the diaspora
• Public commentary in application materials included endorsements or supportive remarks from figures and organisations such as Michele Neylon (Blacknight), Patrick Tully (American Ireland Fund Young Leaders Society) and Keith Charlton (Bunk Campers), indicating commercial and cultural interest.

Registration Rules

• Restrictions: IDNs are not permitted under the .irish registry as noted in registry information.
• Policy framework: Dot-Irish LLC intends to operate under ICANN consensus policies for new gTLDs and to coordinate with appropriate Irish bodies and organisations to maintain quality and cultural appropriateness.
• Availability: the TLD entered general availability on 25 June 2015; initial registration launch began 17 March 2015.

SEO and Brand Impact

• Applicant materials emphasise branding benefits: the TLD provides an opportunity to register shorter, meaningful names that clearly signal Irish identity.
• Anticipated marketing advantages include clearer brand positioning for Irish-related businesses and organisations, potential improvements for memorable URLs, and positive implications for marketing and search visibility tied to Irish identity.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Registry operator: Dot-Irish LLC.
• Registry services provider: Afilias.
• Key milestones: ICANN Registry Agreement (7 Aug 2014), Root Zone delegation (2 Dec 2014), initial registration (17 Mar 2015), public general availability (25 Jun 2015).
• Public endorsements cited in application material from industry and community figures (e.g., Michele Neylon of Blacknight; Patrick Tully; Keith Charlton) reflecting stakeholder interest in the namespace.

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       IRISH

organisation: Binky Moon, LLC
address:      c/o Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldadmin@identity.digital

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      V0N0.NIC.IRISH 2a01:8840:22:0:0:0:0:27 65.22.32.27
nserver:      V0N1.NIC.IRISH 2a01:8840:23:0:0:0:0:27 65.22.33.27
nserver:      V0N2.NIC.IRISH 2a01:8840:24:0:0:0:0:27 65.22.34.27
nserver:      V0N3.NIC.IRISH 161.232.16.27 2a01:8840:fa:0:0:0:0:27
nserver:      V2N0.NIC.IRISH 2a01:8840:25:0:0:0:0:27 65.22.35.27
nserver:      V2N1.NIC.IRISH 161.232.17.27 2a01:8840:fb:0:0:0:0:27
ds-rdata:     18289 8 2 e438257880733ad6e7ebd5e4721f73470c93c55d57798e19dec38b9b1fe56813

whois:        whois.nic.irish

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.identity.digital/

created:      2014-11-06
changed:      2023-09-12
source:       IANA