If you are reading this, you are already doing the smart thing. Most people in Ireland never look this up — they wait until they're worried, then panic-search at 2am. You are ahead. This page is the one-stop hub for everything sti.ie covers: what an STI actually is, whether your symptoms (or lack of them) mean anything, what happens at a free HSE clinic, where to go in your county, and detailed plain-language info on every common STI in Ireland.
Free help, right now
Call the HSE Sexual Health Line free on 1800 700 700 (Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 9am–5pm). It's anonymous. Or order a free HSE home test kit at sh24.ie — anyone 17+ in Ireland.
Start here: the four pillar guides
If you only read four pages on this site, read these. They answer the questions almost everyone has before they make an appointment.
What is an STI?
The plain-language definition, the difference between STI and STD, and the most common ones in Ireland. Read this if you're new to all of it.
Symptoms — or not?
How to tell what's an actual symptom, what's anxiety, and when to test. Most STIs in Ireland have no symptoms at all.
How testing actually works
Walk-in or appointment? What do they ask? Swab or pee or blood? How do results come back? The whole thing demystified.
Testing directory
Every free HSE clinic and home-test option in Ireland, with phone numbers and addresses.
Not sure if it's an STI?
Plenty of things look or feel like an STI but aren't. Most common cause of confusion:
Thrush vs STI — the difference
Thrush is a yeast infection, not an STI. Plain-language guide to symptoms in men and women, where to test in Ireland, OTC treatment, when to see a GP.
Bacterial vaginosis
Also not technically an STI but routinely checked alongside. Different smell, different treatment.
Where to get tested — by county
Every county page lists the free HSE sexual health clinics in that county, plus private and home-test options. All HSE services are free of charge — no GP referral needed.
Dublin
GUIDE Clinic, Mater, Gay Men's Health Service, Rotunda, plus home testing.
Cork
South Infirmary Victoria Hospital, Penrose youth service, home testing.
Galway
University Hospital Galway, Portiuncula, home testing.
Limerick
University Hospital Limerick, Tue/Thu clinics, home testing.
Waterford
University Hospital Waterford, home testing.
Louth
Louth County Hospital Dundalk, Our Lady of Lourdes Drogheda.
Mayo
Mayo University Hospital Castlebar, home testing.
Donegal
Errigal CDM Hub Letterkenny, home testing.
Wicklow
Dublin clinics + home testing.
Kerry
University Hospital Kerry Tralee + South Infirmary referral.
Kildare
Naas General + Dublin commuter-belt options.
Meath
Our Lady's Hospital Navan + Drogheda overflow.
Tipperary
South Tipperary General Clonmel + UHL for North Tipp.
Clare
University Hospital Limerick GUM clinic.
Kilkenny
St Luke's General Hospital, Kilkenny.
Wexford
Wexford General Hospital sexual health.
Westmeath
Midlands Sexual Health Service, Mullingar.
Offaly
Midlands Sexual Health, Tullamore.
Laois
Midlands Sexual Health, Portlaoise.
Carlow
Nearest free GUM at St Luke's Kilkenny.
Sligo
Sligo University Hospital — covers the north-west.
Leitrim
Nearest free GUM at Sligo University Hospital.
Cavan
Cavan General Hospital sexual health.
Monaghan
Cavan General + Drogheda overflow.
Longford
Midlands Sexual Health, Mullingar.
Roscommon
Sligo (north) + Galway (south) GUM clinics.
Every county in Ireland is now covered. Still not sure where to start? Call 1800 700 700 or use the HSE clinic finder.
Not sure if you need a test at all?
Try the 30-second self-check. Five questions, nothing saved, no email. At the end it points you to the right free option for your situation.
The bit other STI sites skip — the emotional and social side
Testing is free and the medicine is straightforward. What stops most people is the anxiety, the conversation with a partner, the worry about who finds out, and the shame the culture still attaches to all of this. These six pages tackle that head-on.
Your first test
What actually happens — the room, the questions, the samples, the results. Plain language, nothing left out.
Dealing with anxiety
What anxiety does in this exact situation, what helps in each stage, and when to seek separate support.
Telling a partner
Scripts for current, past, and new partners. How HSE anonymous notification works if you cannot face the conversation yourself.
If you test positive
The first 24 hours, calmly. Five things to do, what each diagnosis means in 2026 Ireland, and what NOT to do.
Who finds out
Honest answer on GP file, insurance, employer, family. Different routes leave different paper trails — here is the map.
The stigma question
Where it came from, what it costs, and how to step past it for yourself and for a friend.
If a page sounds like it's for you
Some people want the general explanation. Some want the version written for their situation. These three are for the second group.
For students
Where on or near TCD, UCD, UCC, UoG, UL, DCU and the rest. College health services, drop-ins, anonymity.
For men
Men test less, get diagnosed later, and pass things on for longer. Plain-language symptoms and where to go