LOR for Ireland: Sample, Format & Requirements at Top Universities

Creating an LOR for Ireland can be a daunting task for most aspirants. However, a well-written LOR can also help you secure a place at one of the universities in Ireland of your choice. In this article, we will talk about the types of LOR for Ireland, their format, what all skills you can include in it, and other requirements.

The purpose of a Letter of Recommendation (LOR) is to testify your personality, experiences, skills, and abilities from someone else’s perspective, who has known you closely in an academic or professional setting. An LOR for Ireland should also give insights into how you are as a person, as observed by your recommender. Just like your other application and financial documents that are a crucial part of your admission process, LORs are important too. Other documents such as a statement of purpose (SOP), personal statement (PS), essay, or letter of motivation (LOM) allows you to tell your side of the story, while in an LOR, your recommender tells yours credibility. The resume or CV is an outline of all your academic and professional experiences.

An LOR is an official document that endorses you and supports your candidature for a particular program to a particular university. LORs can be accreditation of your academic abilities or an assessment of your professional competence. Thus, drafting an impressive and impactful LOR is equally essential as choosing the right recommender.

LOR for Ireland: Type of LOR Required

Ideally, LORs are short documents (one-page)., evaluating an applicant’s skills, interests, personality traits, and experience in a relevant field. Irish universities refer to the LORs before making a decision on the admission of an applicant. Most of the universities in Ireland require an academic letter of recommendation. However, some programmes or courses may ask for a professional reference as well, especially, if you are applying for business, management, or research-based courses. The majority of universities in Ireland ask for at least two LORs with some general rules. Requirements of LOR in Ireland differ from other countries in some aspects. Instead of the letter form, academic LORs are usually in the form of a questionnaire. The teacher or professor is required to fill a questionnaire to assess a candidate’s skills and personality. Although not every university does this, Irish universities usually send an LOR form directly to the recommenders. For specific courses, applicants may be asked to submit hard copies of their LORs.

Format for LOR for Ireland

It is rare that Irish universities give specific requirements for LORs. Nowadays, universities share a LOR form or link directly with the recommender on their official email address. Then, the recommender fills the LOR content directly onto the portal or fill out the questionnaire. Universities, where this is not followed, will ask for generic LORs, either in PDF format or a hard copy. These LORs should be printed on the official letterhead of the recommender’s institution, having the recommender’s original signature and the institution’s seal and stamp. The page should be A4-size and if no word limit is given, then stick to 500-750 words or one-page length. After getting your signed LORs, you will be asked to upload it online on the admission portal and mail it in a sealed envelope to the concerned university.

The format that you can follow for writing the LOR for Ireland is given below:

Introduction:

This consists of a brief description of recommender's credentials (name, title, college/company name, including his relationship with the client) — how long and in what capacity he has known the applicant. Close this paragraph with the client’s outstanding qualities that motivate the recommender to recommend the student.

Body Paragraphs:

Discuss four to five qualities like academic prowess, research aptitude, ability in thinking out of the box, leadership, organizational, teamwork skills, taking initiatives, work ethics and/or maturity. Provide a substantial and impressive example or instance when the applicant displayed that quality. This is very important.  

Conclusion: Summary of the applicant’s strengths and a ringing and enthusiastic endorsement of his candidacy.

LORs should be one-page in length, evaluating an applicant’s skills, interests, personality traits, and experience in a relevant field. Universities in Ireland consider the LORs before making a decision on the admission of an applicant. Most of the universities in Ireland require an academic letter of recommendation. However, some programs or courses may ask for a professional reference as well, especially, if you are applying for business, management, or research-based courses. Most universities in Ireland ask for at least two LORs. However, the requirements of LOR for Ireland differ from other countries in some aspects. Instead of the letter form, academic LORs are usually in the form of a questionnaire. The recommender is required to fill a questionnaire to assess a candidate’s skills and personality. Although not every university does this, Irish universities usually send the LOR form directly to the recommenders.

LOR for Ireland: What to include?

Having understood the LOR format for Ireland, it is time to draft your LOR, in case your recommender suggests you to help them with it. How to start writing a LOR is a major query that we often receive. For a general sample, you can refer to this LOR Sample. Now, let us discuss some major highlights of your LORs that should not be overlooked. In the beginning of your LOR, two things should be clearly communicated - recommender’s connection with you and duration. A brief introduction about the recommender, their designation, and the nature of work is also required. This should be followed by their assessment of you as a person. Hence, the body of the LOR can be divided into three to four paragraphs, which should highlight your personality traits and attributes, backed by suitable instances.

Here are some skills and abilities that can be covered in your LORs:

• Strong academics
• Intellectual ability
• Research skills
• Effective communication skills
• Teamwork/leadership
• Time management skills
• Proactive nature

Conclude your LOR with a strong recommendation, based an overall assessment of the applicant (you).

LOR for Ireland: Requirements for Top Irish Universities

Now that you know how to prepare an LOR for Ireland, let us take a quick look at the requirements related to the LORs of some top Irish universities. Note that these are general programme requirements as course-specific requirements may differ from university to university.

If you still have any doubts or queries, feel free to leave us comment below and we will try to resolve them for you as soon as possible!