Real people, on-site in Ireland.
Real people, on-site in Ireland.
A .ie domain does not usually need a paid WHOIS privacy add-on if you are an individual: the registry does not publish the registrant name for natural persons unless they consent. Companies and registered charities are treated differently, and their registrant name is published. Here is what the .ie registry (IEDR, trading as weare.ie) says it shows, based on its WHOIS Services Policy valid from 16 November 2020.
The policy defines a legal person as an incorporated entity or registered charity in the island of Ireland. A natural person is an individual or any other type of registrant that is not a legal person. On that definition, a sole trader or unincorporated partnership would appear to be a natural person, but confirm this with the registry or your registrar.
For natural persons, the registrant name is not published. A natural person can choose to have it published for some or all of their .ie domains by giving explicit consent, and can withdraw that consent at any time. Where the registrant is a legal person, the registrant name is published.
The policy lists the fields the registry provides for every registered .ie domain:
The registrar's abuse email and phone must be published. The policy says this is so anyone can report technical abuse that uses the DNS, or illegality connected to a .ie domain. If someone wants to complain about your site, the route is through the registrar, not through your personal details.
The same list is useful for you. The record tells you the expiry date and the sponsoring registrar, which matters when you need to transfer a .ie domain or work out who holds a name that a designer once registered.
The registry offers WHOIS on the weare.ie website, over the WHOIS protocol at whois.weare.ie (TCP port 43), and through RDAP. You can also use our own WHOIS lookup as a quick check. The policy sets a limit of 100 queries per rolling 24 hours per IP address, with blocks for breaching it.
There are rules on use. You must not repackage the data or use it for advertising or for building lists for future advertising, and the policy points to the Data Protection Act 2018 and the GDPR. So the register is not meant to be used as a free lead list.
If you are a natural person on a .ie, the registry's default already keeps your name out of the record, so paying for a mask may add little. For a limited company, the company name is published, and the policy lists contact IDs rather than personal contact details. Check what your own registrar adds on top; policies on other extensions differ, which is covered in our guide to domain privacy protection.
Keep the contact details at the registrar accurate anyway. Important notices, including renewal and deletion warnings, go to the registrant and administrative contacts, and a hidden name does not mean you can ignore them. Our guide on registrar versus host explains who is who.
HostBible hosts websites and email, and migrates an existing site and mailboxes for you whichever registrar holds the domain. This is general information, so check the registry's current policy.
See website migration