Yeah, the main thing is that we'd both have to be resident in Ireland for several years. Which isn't something either of us want to do.
I mean, to be fair, it's not reasonable for me (British citizen) to expect to be able to just have the citizenship of an EU country. I'm just jealous and angry that she (and our hypothetical children) now have a bunch of rights that others took away from me.
Citizenship takes time and effort, but nothing prevents you both from moving to Germany to work, or Spain to retire. Next week, if you want to.
I live in Denmark, and here, upon arrival your wife would fill in a 2-ish-page online form [1] and present a job contract (or bank statement with a decent balance, university letter for studies etc -- the standard moving-in-the-EU rules which Britain never bothered to enforce).
You would show her job contract, plus your marriage certificate, and have fingerprints taken.
The process would be similar in other EU countries, but may well involve fewer online forms and more bits of paper.
I mean, to be fair, it's not reasonable for me (British citizen) to expect to be able to just have the citizenship of an EU country. I'm just jealous and angry that she (and our hypothetical children) now have a bunch of rights that others took away from me.