How difficult it is to find accommodation can’t be understated but it depends on your salary. If you are making big money it will be easier as there is less competition for more expensive apartments. What do you want to spend on rent?

At the 100k salary you mentioned in another comment, you will be insulated from the worst of things and should be able to get a whole apartment. Just don't expect too much bang for your buck - expect to pay guts of €2k monthly at a minimum for a modest one-bed. See daft.ie to get a sense of the going price for your desired type of property.

Landlords won't care if you're a solo occupant provided you have a salary statement or other proof of funds demonstrating you can afford the rent. Adding an additional name onto the lease is rarely a problem.

Spouse permission process totally depends on the citizenship of the spouse

If you can easily pay 2000 to 2500 on rent competition is a bit less. I don't think you understand the housing crisis. People think its a buzz word. A lot of places want 6 months payslips....they dont care if you just got there

I haven’t heard of any landlords having issues with one spouse starting a lease and the other joining later (my partner isn’t even on the lease, and my landlord knows and is fine with that). But I’ll say, we definitely had an easier time because we were a couple - I could see landlords seeing a single renter as more risky, so I’d present yourselves as a couple and not get into the specifics of the timeline.

You probably won’t be able to rent a place before getting in country. You’ll need to land in a short-term rental (we did airbnb, but I know locals hate it). 

The rental market is very, very bad. Check out r/RentinginDublin for a better idea. If your budget is below €2,200 a month (1bed), you need to prepare for a gauntlet. Of course, the higher your budget, the more options.  Landlords won’t want to rent to you until you can show ~3 months of Irish paystubs. We got lucky and found someone who would accept us based on our savings but it took a lot. 

For reference, I applied to ~110 spots, got to see 6 or 7, and was accepted to one full lease, which we took.

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Are you already married? If you haven't been married over two years you need to have proof you've been cohabitating for that length. If you are already married they are attached to you and paperwork done with your CSEP. Not sure how it may work if their visa isnt approved with yours. I assume re-unification but not sure how that'd work tbh... easiest to do it with yours. IANAL

I am moving to Ireland in March on CSEP. We were suggested by Fragomen(our immigration partner) to apply for visas together(My wife and my child(infant <1yr)) We had our VFS appointment in late December and still waiting to hear back on visa.

I have seen that if your spouse apply for visa separately(as you are not married yet) then it will take around 18 months for her to get her permit.

you shit money, it'll be ok

What is your budget? That will determine your difficulty in renting - if you are fine spending €2800 + on a 1br, you can find a newer apt without much challenge. Source - friend just did, but you have to have the income.

So I did this last year, moving in July 2025 on Critical Skills from the US. A bit different on the spouse side as we got married before we moved. You have gotten some great information here already so I won't repeat it.

One thing we found extremely helpful was working with a relocation service. We specifically worked with https://www.onboardireland.ie/ on the reccomendation of my employer here.

We paid them to go look at houses for us, meet landlords, get a feel for the area/building. They also provided knowledge on which areas moght be good/bad/hard to get around via transit. They sent us videos of yhe tours. When we decided to apply, they helped is with some differences in norms/expectations, such as a landlord reference letter. Because of there assistance, we were able to feel confident enough to apply while still in the US and got a great apartment. The savings we got from not having to rent a short term rental and do a search on arrival made us back most of what we paid for their service in the first place.

Additionally, they helped set up our IRP and PPS appointments, and gave is rides to and from those appointments. They also offered to pick us up from the airport, but we declined as we were a bit ill.

All of this was done by the founder, David, who was lovely. It felt very personal and really helped to have a person we could ask process questions.