Gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) consists of a few to several hundred gold atoms and modified reagents, is a new kind of labeled nanoprobes, which have good luminescent properties and biocompatibility due to its size close to the electron Fermi wavelength. Up to now, gold nanoclusters have attracted wide attention in the fields of biological detection, cell imaging, cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, the stability of gold nanoclusters under irradiation condition is still unclear. In this manuscript, histidine and glutathione modified gold nanoclusters were prepared, and the fluorescence changes of gold nanoclusters under the irradiation conditions at different pH (5.0, 7.4 and 9.0) were investigated. The results show that the fluorescence of gold nanoclusters decreases with the increase of irradiation time of xenon light, which is decreased faster at pH =9.0 than that at pH=5.0 and 7.0, indicating that the gold nanoclusters have better light photostability at pH=5.0 and 7.4. On this basis, the changing rule of surface groups of gold nanoclusters before and after irradiation were studied by UV-Vis absorption spectrum and Infrared spectrum. The results showed that the UV-Vis absorption spectrum and Infrared spectrum of the gold nanoclusters change obviously after irradiation, indicating irradiation leads to changes in surface modified groups of gold nanoclusters. When nitrogen is introduced into the system, the fluorescence intensity at λmax wavelength of the gold nanoclusters changed more slowly with the irradiation time than that without nitrogen, indicating that the surface groups of the gold nanoclusters react with the dissolved oxygen in the solution, resulting in changes of the surface charge and the condition of modified reagents, then leading to reducting the fluorescence intensity of gold nanoclusters. The results of this study have some reference value for the further application of gold nanoclusters in life sciences and analytical chemistry.