In this study, tellurium nanowires were electrodeposited into the polymer membranes from aqueous acidic bath containing HTeO2+ ions. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images confirmed the formation of uniform and straight nanowires. The influence of 110 MeV Ni8+ ion irradiation induced defects on the structural, optical and electrical properties of as-deposited tellurium nanowires were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and current voltage (I-V) measurements. The XRD data depicted the hexagonal phase of tellurium nanowires and further revealed a variation in the intensity of diffraction peaks of ion irradiated nanowires. Williamson-Hall (WH) analysis is used for convoluting the size and microstrain contributions to the width of diffraction peaks. Tellurium nanowires exhibited a distinct absorbance band in the visible region at 686 nm, while this was absent in bulk tellurium. Electrical properties of nanowires are explored on the basis of I-V curves, which revealed a significant increase in the electrical conductivity of irradiated nanowires. A possible mechanism for the enhanced electrical conductivity is the increase in carrier concentration due to thermally excited defects. The defects produced by ion irradiation play a vital role in modifying the properties of semiconducting nanowires. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.