Letter of Recommendation (LOR) is a short statement or document evaluating an applicant’s skills, interests, personality traits, and intelligence. An LOR for Ireland is generally an academic reference letter, submitted by your teacher or academic supervisor.

Majority of universities in Ireland ask for two letters of recommendation at the time of admission itself. This requirement is uniform across all universities and courses. Furthermore, what makes a requirements of LOR in Ireland different than other countries is that,

  • The academic LOR for Ireland requires referees to complete a questionnaire (unless otherwise stated), to assess candidates skills and personality.
  • To study courses like LLM, MBBS, and MBA in Ireland, students may be asked to submit hard copies of their reference letter; a requirement which is not observed in other top study destinations like the UK, USA, or Australia.
  • Also, in countries like Canada and USA, you will have to submit a combination of academic and professional LOR, which makes the entire process more complex and time consuming. But, since LOR for Ireland is mainly academic, the process becomes simple.

LOR for Ireland: Structural Guidelines for Referees

The Irish universities do not have any composite guidelines in terms of LOR requirements. More often than not, the universities issues an online link to the applicant or referee, consisting of academic LOR form in PDF format. The referees are required to complete the form and either upload it or mail it in a sealed envelope, as per university instructions.

Now, what exactly does an academic LOR for Ireland will include? To answer your question, majority of the Letters of Recommendation for Ireland universities are divided into two parts:

  1. Referee’s connection with the applicant
  2. Referee’s assessment of the applicant.

While the former is to be answered in single sentences max, the later might be asked in various forms, such as brief QnA or a Yes or NO table. However, in both cases, the referee needs to rate the applicant on the following aspects:

  1. General academic ability
  2. Intellectual ability
  3. Motivation
  4. Written communication skills
  5. Verbal communication skills
  6. Ability to organise workload
  7. Originality
  8. Overall assessment of applicant

LOR for Ireland: Requirements at Top Irish Universities

The Letter of recommendation guidelines and requirements at top universities in Ireland are tabulated below:

University Name LOR for UG  LOR for PG LOR for MBA
Trinity College Dublin 2 Academic LORs 2 Academic LORs 2 Academic LORs
University College Dublin 2 Academic LORs 1 Academic & 1 Professional LOR (Recommended) 2 Professional LORs
University College Cork 2 Academic LORs 1 Academic LOR (Recommended) 2 Academic LORs
National University of Ireland 1 Academic LOR 2 Academic LORs 1 Academic & 1 Professional LOR (Recommended)
University of Limerick Not Required 1 Academic & 1 Professional LOR (Recommended) 2 Professional LORs
Technological University Dublin 2 Academic LORs 2 Academic LORs 1 Professional LOR
Maynooth University Not Required 2 Academic LORs 2 Academic LORs

LOR for Ireland: An Academic LOR Sample

A sample LOR for BSc in Civil Engineering written by a high school teacher for his student is given below

To,
The Department of Civil Engineering
(Name of the institution)

I’m writing this letter of recommendation for (name of the applicant) who I’ve taught for four long years in her high school. She’s extraordinarily talented and skillful and was definitely one of the biggest assets to our school. She had an extremely inquisitive mind and I was really impressed by her thirst of knowledge since the very beginning. I taught her mathematics and physics at (name of the school) from 9th grade to 12th grade and she profoundly impressed me by her critical thinking and quantitative reasoning. I am assertive that her efficiency and rigorous hard work will help her in getting successful in the civil engineering program of your (name of the university applying to)

(Name of the applicant) is an extremely quick learner and is technically very sound. She was part of the school’s science club and had advanced skills to compete with her seniors. She’s a remarkable orator and has participated in numerous debates and speech competitions. Her incredible leadership qualities were demonstrated when she was nominated as the school leader. She took all charge of the school functions and festivals and had tremendous cooperation with her fellow school council members. She always used to have solutions to unforeseen problems that would come her way while making arrangements for seminars or other functions.

Her projects and assignments always stood out because she had a great habit of reading different books and gathering more and more knowledge. She had participated in all the scholarship exams as well as mathematics and science Olympiads and had succeeded with flying colours. Not only is she academically excellent, but also she is humble, honest, and respectful towards her teachers, friends, and seniors. Her greatest personal strengths are her confidence and passion to achieve.

I place her among the top 10 students I’ve ever taught. I am certain that she will highly contribute to your department’s community and your university as a whole. I highly recommend her to get admission to your undergraduate program. Feel free to contact me in case of any further queries at (referees email ID)

Warm Regards
(Name of the teacher)
Designation
(Name of the high school)