Ireland competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 61 competitors, 52 men and 9 women, took part in 47 events in 12 sports.
Competitors
The following is the list of number of competitors in the Games.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! width=180|Sport
! width=55|Men
! width=55|Women
! width=55|Total
|-
| align=left|Archery
| 2 || 1 || 3
|-
| align=left|Athletics
| 14 || 4 || 18
|-
| align=left|Boxing
| 7 || – || 7
|-
| align=left|Canoeing
| 4 || 0 || 4
|-
| align=left|Cycling
| 5 || 0 || 5
|-
| align=left|Equestrian
| 7 || 0 || 7
|-
| align=left|Judo
| 1 || – || 1
|-
| align=left|Rowing
| 3 || 0 || 3
|-
| align=left|Sailing
| 3 || 2 || 5
|-
| align=left|Swimming
| 3 || 2 || 5
|-
| align=left|Tennis
| 2 || 0 || 2
|-
| align=left|Wrestling
| 1 || – || 1
|-
! Total || 52 || 9 || 61
|}
Archery
In Ireland's fourth appearance in archery competition at the Olympics, the nation was represented by two men and one woman.
Women's Individual Competition:
- Pereira Greene – Preliminary Round (→ 38th place)
Men's Individual Competition:
- Joseph Malone – Preliminary Round (→ 69th place)
- Noel Lynch – Preliminary Round (→ 74th place)
Athletics
Men's Marathon
- Dick Hooper
:* Final – 2"17.16 (→ 24th place)
- John Woods
:* Final – 2"25.38 (→ 52nd place)
Men's 3.000m Steeplechase
- Brendan Quinn
:* Heat – 8:40.87
:* Semi Final – 8:43.34 (→ did not advance)
Men's Hammer Throw
- Connor McCullagh
:* Qualifying Heat – 68.66m (→ did not advance)
Men's Javelin Throw
- Terry McHugh
:* Qualification – 76.46m (→ did not advance)
Men's Decathlon
- Carlos O'Connell – 7310 points (→ 29th place)
:# 100 metres – 11.26s
:# Long Jump – 6.90m
:# Shot Put – 12.41m
:# High Jump – 1.88m
:# 400 metres – 48.24s
:# 110m Hurdles – 15.61s
:# Discus Throw – 38.02m
:# Pole Vault – 4.40m
:# Javelin Throw – 52.68m
:# 1.500 metres – 4:32.06s
Women's 3.000m Steeplechase
- Anne Keenan-Buckley
Women's Marathon
- Ailish Smyth
:* Final – 2"44.17 (→ 46th place)
- Marie Murphy-Rollins
:* Final – 3"04.21 (→ 57th place)
Boxing
Men's Light Flyweight (– 48 kg)
- Wayne McCullough
:* First Round – Bye
:* Second Round – Defeated Fred Mutuweta (Uganda), 5:0
:* Third Round – Lost to Scott Olsen (Canada), 0:5
Canoeing
Cycling
Five male cyclists represented Ireland in 1988.
;Men's road race
- Cormac McCann
- John McQuaid
- Paul McCormack
;Men's team time trial
- Philip Cassidy
- Cormac McCann
- John McQuaid
- Stephen Spratt
Equestrianism
Judo
Rowing
Men's Coxled Pairs
- Pat McDonagh – 2nd in repechage (→ Unplaced)
- Frank Moore – 2nd in repechage (→ Unplaced)
- Liam Williams – 2nd in repechage (→ Unplaced)
Sailing
Swimming
;Men
{| class=wikitable style="font-size:90%;"
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!colspan=2|Heat
!colspan=2|Semifinal
!colspan=2|Final
|- style="font-size:95%"
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
|-align=center
|rowspan=3 align=left|Stephen Cullen
|align=left|200 m freestyle
| 1:57.90
| 50
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|100 m backstroke
| 58.82
| 29
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m backstroke
| 2:06.98
| 27
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|rowspan=3 align=left|Richard Gheel
|align=left|200 m freestyle
| 2:01.73
| 57
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|100 m backstroke
| 59.37
| 36
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m backstroke
| 2:05.71
| 25
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|rowspan=3 align=left|Gary O'Toole
|align=left|100 m breaststroke
| 1:05.34
| 34
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m breaststroke
| 2:18.93
| 18
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m individual medley
| 2:07.77
| 20
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|}
;Women
{| class=wikitable style="font-size:90%;"
|-
!rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event
!colspan=2|Heat
!colspan=2|Semifinal
!colspan=2|Final
|- style="font-size:95%"
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
!Time
!Rank
|-align=center
|rowspan=4 align=left|Michelle Smith
|align=left|100 m backstroke
| 1:06.22
| 27
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m backstroke
| 2:19.50
| 17
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m individual medley
| 2:25.53
| 26
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|400 m individual medley
| 5:01.84
| 25
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|rowspan=2 align=left|Aileen Convery
|align=left|100 m backstroke
| 1:06.73
| 29
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|-align=center
|align=left|200 m backstroke
| 2:19.91
| 18
| colspan=2
| colspan=2 | Did not advance
|}
Tennis
Men's Doubles Competition
- Owen Casey and Eoin Collins
:* First Round – Lost to Amos Mansdorf and Gilad Bloom (Israel) 2-6 6-7 6-4 5-7