Data from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs shows that almost 82,000 applications have been lodged from Britain this year, alongside 87,500 from Northern Ireland. The combined total reflects more than double the annual pre-Brexit volume.

A leading immigration lawyer described the trend as “extraordinary”, attributing it to UK citizens seeking “backdoor” access to EU citizenship. Many parents are understood to be securing passports to ensure their children can live, work or study across the EU in the future.

Applications from the UK stood at 87,000 in 2007 and reached 100,000 in 2015. They rose sharply after the Brexit referendum, with 131,000 in 2016, and hit a record 124,000 from mainland Britain in 2019, just before the UK formally left the EU. Northern Ireland recorded its highest total in 2022, with close to 129,000 applications.

Carol Sinnott of Sinnott Solicitors, which has offices in Dublin and Cork, joked that the UK could “run out of Irish grannies” at this pace. She said: “I think a lot of people now understand that if they get an Irish passport their citizenship can continue down the line and they can give it to their children.

“But you must have the passport before your child is born, so people are thinking of the future. They are thinking that their children may want to go and study in universities in Europe without the restrictions that the UK kids would have.

While Brexit-related travel and residency restrictions are central to the surge, analysts also cite economic pressures in the UK and policies in EU states affecting non-EU investors. Spain recently announced a 100 per cent “super tax” on non-EU property buyers and last year ended its “golden visa” scheme, following similar moves in Portugal and Ireland.

The Irish passport, which permits dual nationality, consistently ranks among the world’s strongest, sitting third in last year’s Henley Passport Index with visa-free access to 192 destinations.

Many applicants apply through the Foreign Births Register, proving descent from Irish parents or grandparents. Last year, applications to the register rose 15 per cent to 23,456 – the highest level since digital records began in 2013.

It is estimated that at least six million people in the UK have an Irish grandparent.