If something just happened
Time-limited. Read this one first if it applies to you.
Testing options
How to get tested, and which route suits you.
When should I take a test?
Window periods for each infection, and why two current Irish sources publish different numbers for HIV.
Read this guide →Throat and rectal tests
A urine sample doesn't check your throat. What to ask for, and what home kits include.
Read this guide →Free home STI testing
The HSE's free postal service, provided by SH:24 — eligibility, ordering, dispatch and results.
Read this guide →Compare STI tests in Ireland
Free HSE clinic, free home service, GP and private providers, side by side.
Read this guide →How STI testing works
What a test actually involves, from sample to result.
Read this guide →Your first STI test
What to expect if you have never been tested before.
Read this guide →Do I need an STI test?
A 30-second self-check to help you decide what to do next.
Read this guide →STI testing in Ireland: overview
The routes available nationally and how they differ.
Read this guide →Free services in Ireland
Free sexual health services and how to access them.
Free condoms in Ireland
Postal services and local collection points, with each provider's own rules.
Read this guide →Free PrEP in Ireland
What PrEP is, the HSE's criteria, and how to get an assessment.
Read this guide →Free clinics by county
Public sexual health clinics, listed with the official source we checked.
Read this guide →Finding services
Where to go, and who each service is for.
Clinic directory
Every county we have verified services for.
Read this guide →STI testing in Dublin
GUIDE Clinic, the Mater, Gay Men's Health Service and more.
Read this guide →STI testing in Limerick
University Hospital Limerick, GOSHH, and home testing.
Read this guide →STI clinic Waterford
University Hospital Waterford and what an appointment involves.
Read this guide →STI testing for men
What is usually offered and what to ask for.
Read this guide →STI testing for students
Student health services and free options.
Read this guide →STI testing in pregnancy
What is offered as part of antenatal care.
Read this guide →Official sources and helplines
The HSE and provider pages we check against.
Read this guide →Privacy and practical questions
What is recorded, and what happens after.
Understanding your results
What negative, positive and “reactive” mean, how long results take, and the two things a clear result doesn't cover.
Read this guide →Confidentiality and privacy
Who sees your result, what is recorded, and why confidential is not anonymous.
Read this guide →If you test positive
What happens next, and who arranges treatment.
Read this guide →How to tell a partner
Practical wording and partner notification services.
Read this guide →STI test anxiety
If the waiting is the hard part.
Read this guide →Overcoming STI stigma
Why testing is routine healthcare.
Read this guide →Understanding STIs
Plain-language guides to each infection.
What is an STI?
The basics, without jargon.
Read this guide →Chlamydia
Often no symptoms; treated with antibiotics.
Read this guide →Gonorrhoea
Often no symptoms; treated with antibiotics.
Read this guide →HIV
Testing, treatment, and what a diagnosis means today.
Read this guide →Syphilis
Stages, testing and treatment.
Read this guide →Herpes (HSV)
Symptoms, management and disclosure.
Read this guide →Herpes testing in Ireland
Where to go, and why a postal kit does not diagnose it.
Read this guide →Genital warts
Causes, treatment and vaccination.
Read this guide →HPV
Screening, vaccination and what the types mean.
Read this guide →Trichomoniasis
Common, and very treatable.
Read this guide →Mycoplasma genitalium
Increasingly recognised; ask for it.
Read this guide →Bacterial vaginosis
Not an STI, but often confused with one.
Read this guide →Thrush or an STI?
How to tell the difference.
Read this guide →Symptoms, or not?
What symptoms do and do not tell you.
Read this guide →Pubic lice
Treatment and what to do about contacts.
Read this guide →Scabies
Treatment and household contacts.
Read this guide →