The 1998 Irish Open was a professional ranking snooker tournament, held from 14 to 20 December 1998 at the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght, Republic of Ireland, of which only one edition was held. Mark Williams won the tournament by defeating Alan McManus 9–4 in the final.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:

Winner: £50,000 Runner-up: £26,000 Semi-final: £13,000 Quarter-final: £7,555 Last 16: £3,750 Last 32: £3,100 Last 48: £1,800Last 64: £1,250 Last 96: £890 Overseas play-off round: £890 Last 134: £205 Televised highest break: £3,000 Qualifying highest break: £1,000 Total: £305,000

Main draw

Last 32 Best of 9 framesLast 16 Best of 9 framesQuarter-finals Best of 9 framesSemi-finals Best of 11 framesFinal Best of 17 frames
Scotland John Higgins5
England Tony Knowles3
Scotland John Higgins3
England Stephen Lee5
England Stephen Lee5
Australia Quinten Hann0
England Stephen Lee2
England John Parrott5
England Matthew Couch5
Canada Alain Robidoux1
England Matthew Couch4
England John Parrott5
England John Parrott5
Wales Dominic Dale4
England John Parrott1
Wales Mark Williams6
Wales Mark Williams5
Wales Lee Walker3
Wales Mark Williams5
Scotland Graeme Dott0
Scotland Graeme Dott5
England Mark King4
Wales Mark Williams5
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty1
England Bradley Jones5
England Nigel Bond1
England Bradley Jones2
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty5
Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty5
Northern Ireland Gerard Greene4
Wales Mark Williams9
Scotland Alan McManus4
England Jimmy Michie5
England Ronnie O'Sullivan4
England Jimmy Michie0
Scotland Billy Snaddon5
Scotland Billy Snaddon5
England Anthony Hamilton4
Scotland Billy Snaddon3
Scotland Alan McManus5
Wales Paul Davies5
Thailand James Wattana4
Wales Paul Davies4
Scotland Alan McManus5
Scotland Alan McManus5
England Dave Harold4
Scotland Alan McManus6
Malta Tony Drago3
England Peter Ebdon5
England Jimmy White4
England Peter Ebdon4
Malta Tony Drago5
Malta Tony Drago5
England Karl Broughton4
Malta Tony Drago5
Scotland Stephen Hendry4
England Paul Hunter5
England Steve Davis4
England Paul Hunter3
Scotland Stephen Hendry5
Scotland Stephen Hendry5
England Joe Perry1

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Len Ganley National Basketball Arena, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, 20 December 1998.
Mark Williams Wales9–4Alan McManus Scotland
Afternoon: 62–25, 64–8, 64–20 (64), 44–36, 78–4 (64), 135–0 (135), 47–60, 49–53 Evening: 7–91 (71),68–1 (53), 75–16 (62), 0–82 (82), 107–0 (65)
135Highest break82
1Century breaks0
650+ breaks2

Century breaks