Real people, on-site in Ireland.
Real people, on-site in Ireland.
Yes, you can have a .ie domain with a fada. Since 17 November 2016 the registry has accepted vowels with an acute accent (á, é, í, ó, ú) in .ie names, so fáilte.ie is a valid domain. Behind the scenes it is stored in a coded form that starts with xn--, and some email software has historically been awkward about it. Here is what is worth knowing before you build a brand on one.
The registry released fada domains in phases. According to the minutes of its Policy Advisory Committee, the Landrush phase for holders of existing non-fada names ended on 16 November 2016, successful Sunrise and Landrush applications went live on 17 November, and general availability opened that same day. Those minutes record that no technical issues had been reported at that point and that the registry expected feedback to grow as usage did.
The registry's 2018 policy says the fada is permitted on vowels (a, e, i, o, u). Other accented characters are not part of the .ie rules, and a name can only be a single label followed by .ie, with letters, digits and hyphens otherwise.
Every internationalised domain exists in two forms. People type the Unicode version, such as éire.ie. The DNS stores a plain-ASCII version called Punycode, which always starts with xn--. The registry's own example is that éire.ie is stored as xn--ire-9la.ie.
This matters for anything technical. When you set nameservers, DNS records or certificates in some control panels, you may be asked for the xn-- form rather than the accented one. Our guide to DNS record types explains what you will be editing.
Browsers vary. The registry's FAQ explains that each browser decides for itself whether to show the Unicode form or the xn-- form in the address bar, and that seeing xn-- does not by itself mean a site is suspicious. That is a reminder rather than a fault, and it is also why lookalike domains are a security issue the registry warns about.
Email is the part to be cautious about. At launch, the registry's FAQ recommended not using an email address on an IDN domain "for the moment", because most email clients would not allow you to create accounts containing the international characters. That advice dates from 2016, and the situation may have improved, so test with the actual providers your customers use before you print the address on a van. A 2016 post on InternetNews.me about the consultation said much the same, noting that email and other applications did not work fully with IDNs.
The usual sensible plan is to hold both spellings: the fada version for the website and brand, and the plain version (without the accent, so failte.ie) as a safety net for people who type without accents and for email.
Keep email on a domain that works everywhere, point both names at the same site, and choose one as the canonical address. Our domain name tips and the comparison in .ie versus .com help weigh whether the Irish-language name is the right primary.
Fada names fall under the same Registration and Naming policy as other .ie names, so the normal connection-to-Ireland rules should apply. See our guide on registering a .ie from outside Ireland. Fees are set by registrars, so compare, and confirm with your registrar that it supports internationalised .ie names, because not every registrar does.
This is general information. Check current rules with the registry or your registrar.
Whichever spelling you choose, HostBible can host the site and move an existing one with its mailboxes, tested on a staging copy before you point DNS across.
See website migration