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Company seal Ireland
30 August 2026 · Estamplab
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Ireland is unusual, and it catches out anyone who assumes Irish company law works like the British version. In the United Kingdom the common seal became optional. In Ireland it did not. Section 43 of the Companies Act 2014 says a company shall have a common seal, and that the seal shall state the company's name in legible characters. That wording is mandatory, and the 2024 reforms confirmed it rather than removing it.
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So an Irish company needs two different things, and most of the confusion in this area comes from treating them as one. This guide separates them, then covers every other stamp an Irish business actually presses.
The common seal is not the company stamp
The common seal is the embossing press: two metal dies that squeeze the paper and leave the company name raised, without ink. It is a statutory instrument of the company, kept by the secretary, and it is used on the documents that need sealing rather than on everyday paperwork. Its use is authorised by the directors, and an instrument sealed by the company is signed and countersigned in the manner the Act sets out. Your solicitor or company secretary will tell you which documents in front of you require it.
The company stamp is the rubber one: name, company number, registered office, and it goes on quotations, invoices, delivery dockets and letters. Nothing in law requires it. Everybody uses it anyway, because it saves writing the same four lines fifty times a week.
Buying the second when somebody asked for the first is the expensive mistake. A rubber stamp will not satisfy a requirement for the common seal, and no amount of design will make it do so. What a design tool can usefully do is prepare the artwork you hand to a seal maker, and make the everyday stamp you were also going to need. See common seal and company seal.
What goes on each
On the common seal, the company name exactly as registered, in legible characters. That is the statutory requirement and there is very little discretion in it. Check the name against the CRO register letter by letter, including "Limited" or "Teoranta", before anything is cut, because a seal with an abbreviated name is a seal you will replace.
On the company stamp, the working set:
- the registered name, in full, with the company type,
- the company registration number as issued by the Companies Registration Office,
- the registered office address,
- the VAT number if the stamp goes on invoices,
- phone or email if there is room left.
The CRO number is the line the other side can actually check, so give it space rather than squeezing it onto the last line in six point. Templates: Ireland company seal.
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Stamps by profession in Ireland
- Solicitor. Firm name, address, and the practising details the Law Society expects on correspondence. See solicitor and legal stamps.
- Doctor and GP practice. Name, qualification, practice address, and the Medical Council registration number. This is the mark that accompanies certificates and referrals, so it has the least room for improvisation. See doctor stamp, pharmacy and veterinary.
- Accountant and auditor. Practice name, professional body and membership number, plus a free line for the filing date. See accountant stamp.
- Notary public. Content and form follow the office rather than preference, and a notarial seal is a controlled instrument. Our notary templates are a graphic starting point only; what may appear is set by the authority requiring the document.
- School and ETB. School name, roll number and county, on reports, references and attendance letters. See school stamp and teacher stamp.
- Engineer and architect. Professional body membership decides the format. See engineer and architect.
- Estate agent. Agency name, PSRA licence number, contact. It goes on viewing sheets and letters of engagement. See estate agency stamp.
- Charity and club. Registered name, CRA number where one applies, and the county. Many choose the round form because it reads as institutional. See association seal.
One line deserves reading character by character: the number. CRO, VAT, Medical Council, PSRA. It is the only detail anybody verifies in a minute, and it is the one that most often reaches the engraver wrong.
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The everyday stamps, and the one worth having first
- RECEIVED, with the date. The most useful mark in any office. Without a date of receipt, the question of whether something arrived in time has no answer; with it, the question takes a second. See received stamp maker.
- PAID. Stops the same invoice being settled twice, which is a quieter loss than most businesses admit. See paid stamp.
- CERTIFIED TRUE COPY. Separates the original from what is circulating, which matters when you are building a file from documents you will not part with. See certified true copy.
- CONFIDENTIAL, CANCELLED, DRAFT, URGENT. Status marks, almost always red, because on a black and white page colour carries the meaning faster than the word. See red stamps.
- Signature block. Name, position and a line to sign on. The stamp says who; the signature commits. See signature stamp.
Getting the common seal made, and the stamp made properly
Two different routes, and it is worth taking them in the right order.
For the common seal, you need a physical embossing press from a seal maker. Design the artwork first, on screen, where a correction costs nothing, then download the SVG and send that. A vector cuts far more cleanly than the photograph of an old impression that most workshops are handed, and it means the name is exactly as registered rather than as remembered.
For the company stamp, you may not need a physical object at all. Most Irish paperwork now moves as PDF: an invoice emailed to accounts, a quotation attached to a message, a docket photographed on site. With a rubber stamp that becomes print, stamp, scan, resend, and the file gets worse at every step. A transparent PNG sits on the page like ink, the date fills itself in, and changing the registered office after a move takes half a minute rather than a new die. To place it on a file now, the PDF tool works in your browser without uploading the document.
Frequently asked questions
Does an Irish company have to have a company seal?
Under section 43 of the Companies Act 2014 a company shall have a common seal stating the company's name in legible characters. It is one of the clearest differences between Irish and UK company law, since the UK made the seal optional. How and when it must be used on a particular document is a question for your solicitor or company secretary.
What is the difference between a company stamp and a company seal in Ireland?
The seal is the embossing press that raises the company name in the paper, and it is a statutory instrument of the company. The stamp is the rubber one carrying name, CRO number and address, used on everyday paperwork, and no law requires it. They are not interchangeable.
What must appear on an Irish common seal?
The company's name, engraved in legible characters, as the Act requires. Verify it against the CRO register before anything is cut, including whether the registered name ends in Limited or Teoranta.
Should the CRO number be on the company stamp?
It is not required to be, but it is the most useful line on the stamp, because it is what a supplier, a bank or a client can check in a minute. Put it where it can be read rather than on the last line.
Can I make an Irish company stamp online for free?
Designing and previewing is free and needs no account. What costs money is the physical die from an engraver, and the embossing press if you also need the common seal made.
Is a digital company stamp accepted in Ireland?
For ordinary commercial documents, applied stamps are common practice and widely accepted. That is separate from sealing under the Companies Act, which concerns particular documents and particular formalities. If a document specifically calls for the common seal, a digital image does not substitute for it.
Do you have this in Irish?
Yes. There is a full guide in Gaeilge: stampa cuideachta ar líne.
Only make the stamp you are entitled to use. Reproducing the mark of a notary, a State body or a professional body without holding that position is not design work, it is forgery, and it is prohibited and prosecuted as such.
This guide describes common commercial practice and is a design tool rather than legal advice. Company law questions, and in particular when a document must be executed under seal, belong with your solicitor, your company secretary or the Companies Registration Office. Where a professional stamp's content is regulated, the relevant body decides what may appear on it.
Read next: company seal templates, Ireland company seal and a date stamp that fills itself in.