Average Legal Counsel Salary in Ireland for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Legal Counsel salary for 2024 in Ireland and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the Euro. To keep things simple, we are using the EUR currency code instead of the currency symbol โ‚ฌ.

How Much Does a Legal Counsel Make in Ireland?

A Legal Counsel working in Ireland will typically earn around 58,200 EUR per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 25,500 EUR to the highest average salary of 92,100 EUR.

Average Annual Salary
58,200 EUR
Average Monthly Salary
4,850 EUR

Lowest Annual Salary
25,500 EUR
Lowest Monthly Salary
2,125 EUR

Highest Annual Salary
92,100 EUR
Highest Monthly Salary
7,675 EUR

These are average salaries for a Legal Counsel in Ireland and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Legal Counsel to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Legal Counsel salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Legal Counsel Salaries in Ireland

So we've looked at the average salaries a Legal Counsel will earn in Ireland. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Legal Counsel can earn between 25,500 EUR and 92,100 EUR on average in Ireland. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Legal Counsel in Ireland is 60,800 EUR. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 60,800 EUR, and 50% of the population earn more than 60,800 EUR.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Legal Counsel salary in Ireland, 25% of the population are earning less than 41,100 EUR while 75% of the population earn more than 41,100 EUR.

75% of the population earn less than 79,600 EUR, and 25% of the population earn more than 79,600 EUR.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Legal Counsel Salary by Experience Level in Ireland

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average legal counsel salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Legal Counsel in Ireland that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 31,800 EUR.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Legal Counsel salary would increase to 44,900 EUR.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Legal Counsel, the average salary would be 63,100 EUR.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 77,400 EUR.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Legal Counsel with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 79,000 EUR.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Legal Counsel with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 86,300 EUR.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
31,800 EUR
2-5 Years +38%
44,900 EUR
5-10 Years +42%
63,100 EUR
10-15 Years +22%
77,400 EUR
15-20 Years +6%
79,000 EUR
20+ Years +9%
86,300 EUR

Legal Counsel Salary by Education Level in Ireland

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Legal Counsel in Ireland based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Legal Counsel in Ireland with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 44,900 EUR.

  • Master's Degree. A Legal Counsel in Ireland with a master's degree education can earn an average salary of 79,000 EUR.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Bachelor's Degree
44,900 EUR
Master's Degree +83%
79,000 EUR

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in Ireland is around 16,000 to 48,100 EUR and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Legal Counsel Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Ireland, a male legal counsel will earn an average of 61,400 EUR, while a female legal counsel will earn around 58,100 EUR.

This means that a male legal counsel earns approximately 6% more than a female legal counsel for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Ireland

Male
61,400 EUR
Female -6%
58,100 EUR

Legal Counsel Average Pay Raise in Ireland

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Legal Counsel in Ireland is around 12% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in Ireland is around 9% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 12 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 9%

What this means is that a Legal Counsel in Ireland can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 9% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Ireland for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in Ireland.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
5%
Energy
1%
Information Technology
6%
Healthcare
2%
Travel
7%
Construction
3%
Education
8%

Legal Counsel Bonus and Incentive Rates in Ireland

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Legal Counsel is a moderate bonus based job, with 59% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

41% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 2% to 7%.

Received Bonus
59%
No Bonus
41%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in Ireland earn approximately 12% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
40,900 EUR
Private Sector -12%
36,400 EUR

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Legal Counsel

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Legal Counsel in Ireland.

Job Title Category Salary
Administrative Law Judge Legal 109,000 EUR
Arbitrator Legal 49,800 EUR
Associate Attorney Legal 51,100 EUR
Attorney Legal 77,300 EUR
Bailiff Legal 24,400 EUR
Barrister Legal 20,000 EUR
Candidate Attorney Legal 47,600 EUR
Conciliator Legal 39,100 EUR
Contracts Associate Legal 25,700 EUR
Contracts Manager Legal 43,100 EUR
Contracts Negotiator Legal 36,600 EUR
Contracts Specialist Legal 24,400 EUR
Conveyancing Secretary Legal 20,000 EUR
Corporate Counsel Legal 58,600 EUR
Counsel Legal 58,200 EUR
Court Clerk Legal 20,200 EUR
Court Judicial Assistant Legal 30,200 EUR
Court Liaison Specialist Legal 34,800 EUR
Court Reporter Legal 27,700 EUR
Court Representative Legal 21,300 EUR
Crown Prosecution Service Lawyer Legal 105,800 EUR
General Counsel Legal 96,400 EUR
Immigration Executive Legal 50,600 EUR
In House Counsel Legal 54,100 EUR
Intellectual Property Specialist Legal 36,900 EUR
Judge Advocate Legal 84,300 EUR
Law Clerk Legal 19,100 EUR
Lawyer Legal 74,900 EUR
Legal Administrative Assistant Legal 20,000 EUR
Legal Advisor Legal 49,300 EUR
Legal Assistant Legal 23,000 EUR
Legal Associate Legal 35,000 EUR
Legal Consultant Legal 46,700 EUR
Legal Consultant Legal 50,500 EUR
Legal Editor Legal 39,500 EUR
Legal Executive Legal 73,100 EUR
Legal Executive Secretary Legal 23,400 EUR
Legal IP Officer Legal 18,900 EUR
Legal Officer Legal 24,800 EUR
Legal Secretary Legal 23,200 EUR
Legal Services Director Legal 91,700 EUR
Legal Services Manager Legal 92,100 EUR
Legal Support Worker Legal 13,100 EUR
Legislative Liaison Legal 38,000 EUR
Litigation Attorney Legal 98,000 EUR
Litigation Paralegal Legal 49,200 EUR
Magistrate Judge Legal 114,300 EUR
Paralegal Legal 30,800 EUR
Patent Attorney Legal 58,700 EUR
Staff Attorney Legal 61,300 EUR

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in Ireland, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Cork 58,000 EUR
Dublin 62,500 EUR
Galway 55,100 EUR
Limerick 60,900 EUR
Waterford 52,800 EUR

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