Free Irish business tool
Irish Company Name Check
Testing a name before you register a company? Enter it below to check whether it is already taken, or likely to be refused as too similar to an existing one, against the full active CRO register.
Already have a name and want to confirm a specific company exists? Search the CRO register.
What this checks
Before the CRO will register a new Irish company, the proposed name must be distinguishable from every company already on the register. This tool applies the same distinguishability logic to your proposed name: it strips the elements the Companies Act 2014 and CRO guidance treat as non-distinguishing - company-type suffixes, "the", punctuation, place names, and common qualifying words like "Holdings" or "Group" - then checks the result against every active company on the register.
Three outcomes are possible. Already registered means an identical name (once those elements are disregarded) is already active. Likely to be refused as too similar means no exact match, but the name is close enough to an existing one that the CRO may refuse it on distinguishability grounds. No conflict found means neither of those applied in this snapshot of the register - not a guarantee of acceptance.
Why "no conflict" is not a green light
This tool never confirms you can register a name - only the CRO Registrar can do that, at the point you actually submit a filing. A "no conflict found" result means this snapshot of the active register contains nothing that matches or resembles the name closely enough to trip the checks above. It cannot see a filing submitted after the snapshot date, a business name on the separate RBN register, a trademark, or a dissolved company whose name stays reserved for 20 years. Treat a clear result here as a strong signal to proceed to filing, not as confirmation.
Source and licence
Data is sourced from the CRO Open Data Portal (opendata.cro.ie / data.gov.ie), published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This tool checks active companies only; dissolved or struck-off entities are excluded. The index is rebuilt weekly by a GitHub Actions workflow and deployed with the site.
Contains Irish Public Sector Data licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Source: Companies Registration Office (CRO), opendata.cro.ie.
Questions
Does a "no conflict found" result mean I can register the name?
No. It means no matching or similar active company was found on the CRO register as of the snapshot date shown. Only the Registrar decides whether a proposed name is accepted, at the point you actually file it - and the Registrar can refuse a name for reasons beyond this tool's check, including a resemblance to a registered business name, trademark, or a name reserved by a dissolved company.
Why does a name with no exact match still get refused sometimes?
Under the Companies Act 2014, the CRO refuses a name that is identical, or too similar, to an existing one - even without an exact word-for-word match. Adding "Holdings", "Group", "Ireland", or a county name to an existing company name is not usually enough to make it distinguishable. This tool models that similarity check, not just an exact-match search.
What counts as "identical" under the Companies Act?
Section 26 of the Companies Act 2014 disregards certain elements when comparing names: the company-type suffix (Limited, Teoranta, DAC, CLG, PLC, ULC and their abbreviations), the definite article "the", punctuation and accents, "and" versus "&", and "company"/"co". Two names that differ only by these elements are treated as identical - the CRO will not register the second one.
Does this include dissolved or struck-off companies?
No - this tool checks active (Normal status) companies only. A dissolved or struck-off company's name stays reserved on the register for 20 years from dissolution, so a "no conflict found" result here can still be refused if the name matches a recently dissolved company. Confirm on core.cro.ie before filing.
How current is the data?
The snapshot is published daily by the CRO under a CC BY 4.0 licence. This tool reflects the snapshot committed to the site, shown next to every result. For the live register, use the CRO's own portal at core.cro.ie.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is an informational tool built on the CRO's open data and the CRO's own published guidance on name distinguishability. It is not a substitute for the CRO's own name-availability check at the point of filing, or for advice from a company formation agent or solicitor.
Results are indicative only and based on the information provided. Data may not reflect current vendor offerings and is subject to change. Always verify details directly with vendors before making purchasing decisions.