Dundalk have been drawn to play Estonian side Levadia Tallinn, while Shamrock Rovers and Derry City have both been handed testing draws in the first phase of the Europa League draw, which took place in Nyon this morning.
Stephen Bradley's Hoops have been drawn against Swedish runners-up AIK, while Derry City face a tough task against Belarussian side Dinamo Minsk.
The first legs will be held on Thursday 12 July with the second legs being held seven days later.
If Dundalk advance, they will host AEK Larnaca the second round. The Cypriot side knocked out Cork City at the same stage last year.
It's a difficult tie for the Lilywhites given they were the seeded side. It means that Dundalk have mirrored Cork's draw for both rounds last year in a bizarre coincidence.
Elsewhere in the draw, Cliftonville will meet Danish outfit Nordsjælland and the winner of that tie will play the team that emerges from the tie involving Shamrock Rovers.
Derry's nightmare draw continued with a second round tie against Dunajská Streda of Slovakia or Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia if they come out on top in Minsk.
Coleraine are to play Spartak Subotica of Serbia and Glenavon play Norwegian side Molde.
Aberdeen will play Burnley in the second round in a battle of Scotland against England. Rangers will take on Shkupi of Macedonia.
Thanks to their exploits in the tournament two years ago, Dundalk were the only seeded team among the Irish trio this morning.
Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny will, however, have unhappy memories of Levadia Tallinn. Having led Bohemians to the league title in 2002-03, he was sacked as manager immediately after a loss to the Estonian side in 2004.
However, the Estonians have struggled against Irish clubs more recently, with both Drogheda United and Cork City eliminating them from European competition in 2008 and 2017 respectively.
Derry City, meanwhile, last met Belarussian opposition in Europe in 2014 when Peter Hutton's side were beaten 6-1 on aggregate by Shakhtyor Soligorsk.
All three clubs receive a total of €240,000 for reaching the first phase of the competition, with the prospect of another €260,000 should they progress to the second phase.
2017 league champions Cork City are already guaranteed to receive a minimum of €820,000 from their participation in European competition this year, earning €280,000 for entering the first round of the Champions League.
Even should they fail to beat Legia Warsaw, they will enter the Europa League at the second-round phase, gaining €260,000 in the process. On top of that, any domestic champion that fails to make the group phase will be handed €260,000 in solidarity payments.
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