Cricket in Ireland is governed by Cricket Ireland, which maintains Ireland's men's and women's cricket teams. Like several other sports in Ireland, cricket is organised on an All-Ireland basis. Following the team's success in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the sport's popularity increased in Ireland. The country was, until 2017, an associate member of the International Cricket Council and played in tournaments like the World Cricket League and ICC Intercontinental Cup, which are qualifying rounds for associate teams to the Cricket World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20. Ireland qualified for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 ICC World Twenty20. In the 2011 World Cup, they beat England in the group matches.

In 2017, domestic cricket in Ireland was recognised as first-class cricket and, in recognition of their progress as a cricketing nation, Ireland was granted Full Member (and hence Test) status for the men's national side. Ireland played their first men's Test match against Pakistan in May 2018, losing by 5 wickets. Ireland's women played a Test match prior to full membership. This was in 2000, against the Pakistan women's team.

Cricket has been played in Ireland since at least the 17th century, when Oliver Cromwell issued an edict banning it. It is believed to have been introduced to Ireland by the British. However, recent research claims that Irish troops in the British Army shaped the game's evolution by introducing terms and gameplay from the old Irish game of Catty. The earliest known reference to a match in Ireland is the August 1792 fixture in Dublin between the British garrison and an "All-Ireland" team, the garrison team winning by an innings.

Cricket was being played in the towns of Kilkenny and Ballinasloe in the early 19th century, with the Ballinasloe club established in 1825. In the 1830s, the game began to decline; although many of the clubs founded in the following 30 years are still in existence today. The first Irish national team played in 1855 against an English national team in Dublin. In the 1850s, the Englishman Charles Lawrence was responsible for developing the game in Ireland through his coaching. In the 1850s and 1860s, Ireland was visited for the first time by touring professional teams. Ireland's first match against Marylebone Cricket Club was in 1858. The game grew in popularity until the early 1880s.^{[contradictory]}

Two changes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries damaged the popularity of cricket. The first was the outbreak of the Land War in the late 1800s, resulting from the mistreatment of tenants by absentee landlords. The second was a ban placed in 1901 on the playing of "foreign" games by the Gaelic Athletic Association, which was not lifted until 1970. Anyone playing foreign games, such as cricket, would be banned from the extremely popular Irish games of hurling and Gaelic football, as it was popularly referred to as a 'garrison game' enjoyed primarily by the occupying British forces and the landowning Protestant oligarchy they protected.

Irish teams toured Canada and the United States in 1879, 1888, 1892, and 1909. On top of this, Ireland defeated a touring South African side in 1904. Their first match with first-class status was played on 19 May 1902 against a London County side including W.G. Grace. The Irish, captained by Sir Tim O'Brien, lost convincingly by 238 runs.

The 2005 ICC Trophy was hosted by Ireland. After Ireland's successes at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, cricket experienced a popularity boom in Ireland, with participation reaching record levels.

According to the Cricket Ireland strategic plan for 2021–2023, 52,000 people in Ireland play, officiate or administer cricket or are involved in school programmes. This is compared to 13,000 people in 2007.