World Rugby and the Irish Rugby Football Union revealed the logo at University College Dublin (UCD), where the Prime Minister of Ireland An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD was in attendance.

Marrying a distinctly Irish flavour to the World Rugby tournament logo, the Celtic design, symbols and pattern is said to represent the heritage of the whole island of Ireland, while the four interwoven green strands stand for the four provinces of the country and the close-knit relationship of rugby.

The official website for the event, which is scheduled to take place from August 9 to 26, was also launched.

"The Women's Rugby World Cup has evolved into a major global sporting event and is truly the pinnacle of the women's 15s game," said outgoing World Rugby chairman Bernard Lapasset.

"Following the outstanding success of Women's Rugby World Cup 2014 in France, which engaged millions of fans and inspired so many girls around the world to get into rugby, the focus now turns towards 2017.

"Ireland has been very supportive of the women's game and I have no doubt that Dublin and Belfast will host a fantastic tournament in August 2017."

With two million women and girls currently playing the game, it is hoped the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup will inspire more to take up the sport.

Former Ireland captain Fiona Coghlan, who led her team to a memorable group phase win over New Zealand at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup in France, said: "There has been a lot of work done to date behind the scenes but today the tournament comes to life and can be seen as something to get really excited about.

"The prospect of Ireland hosting the top international players competing for the biggest prize in the game is hugely exciting."

The pool stages will take place at UCD before moving to Northern Ireland's capital Belfast for the play-off rounds which will take place at Queen's University Sport and Kingspan Stadium.

The final will be held at Kingspan on August 26.

England are the defending champions after beating Canada 21-9 in the final in France.