Contents

Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland

Ireland

Current format 2013 registration with Waterford county code.
Country	Ireland
Country code	IRL
Current series
Size	520mm x 110mm
Material	Acrylic or Aluminium
Serial format	123-A-12345 123-AB-12345
Colour (front)	White with black text
Colour (rear)	White with black text
Introduced	1 January 2013
Availability
Issued by	Local Authority
History
First issued	1903
v t e

InIreland, commonly referred to as the Republic of Ireland, vehicle registration plates (commonly known as "number plates" or "registration plates") are the visual indications of motor vehicle registration – officially termed "index marks"^{[citation needed]} – which it has been mandatory since 1903 to display on most motor vehicles used on public roads in Ireland. The alphanumeric marks (or "registration numbers") themselves are issued by the local authority in which a vehicle is first registered.

The current specification for number plates is the format YYY–CC–SSSSSS.

Those issued from 1987 to 2012 had the format YY–CC–SSSSSS.

The components are:

• YYY or YY – an age/year identifier. This is based on date of first registration.^[1]
• CC – a one or two-character county/city identifier (e.g. L for Limerick City and County; SO for County Sligo).
• SSSSSS – a one to six-digit sequence number, starting with the first vehicle registered in the county/city that year/period.

The YY format was used between 1987-2012.

This format displayed the last two digits of the year the car was registered. For example, the 12,345th car registered in Dublin in 2001 would display 01-D-12345.

The YYY format has been in use since 2013.

This amends the original format to include the digits 1 or 2 after the year. These numbers are used depending on the time of year the vehicle is registered. Vehicles registered in the January-June period display a 1, while vehicles registered from July-December display a 2. Under this format, the 12,345th vehicle registered in the second period of 2022 would display 222-D-12345.

Since 1991, the design of the standard Irish number plate has been based on European standard guidelines, with a blue vertical band to the left of the plate containing the twelve stars of the Flag of Europe, below which is the country identifier for Ireland: IRL. The rest of the plate has a white background with black characters. There are usually two hyphens; between the year and county code, and between the county code and sequence number. Also required is the full Irish language name of the county/city which must be positioned above the identifier.^[2]

The current regulations are set out in the Vehicle Registration and Taxation (Amendment) Regulations, 1999,^[2] as amended by the Vehicle Registration and Taxation (Amendment) Regulations 2012.^[3] These prescribe the format, dimensions and technical specifications of registration plates to be displayed on vehicles. They substitute the First Schedule of the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations, 1992^[4] to allow additional characters to be displayed on the registration plate and to ensure that these are displayed in the correct position and proportion. The changes were necessary to cater for increases in the number of car registrations.

A standard uniform character font is not required. The rules simply require legible black sans serif characters, no more than 70mm high and 36mm wide with a stroke width of 10mm, on a white reflective background. The result is that a large variety of perfectly legal font styles may be seen, on either pressed aluminium or acrylic plates, both of which are allowed.^[2] Commonly used fonts include a condensed version of Mandatory, Arial and FE-Schrift. Despite the rather relaxed lack of a specified font, the hyphen between the lettering must lie between the minimum dimensions of 13mm x 10mm or the maximum dimension of 22mm x 10mm. Vehicle owners may be fined if the plate's format does not meet the requirements, and the vehicle will fail the mandatory periodic National Car Test.^[5]

A vehicle's number plate is determined when it is first registered, the county/city code is taken from the first owner's postal address. Registration remains fixed on one vehicle until it is de-registered (exported, destroyed, etc.), and cannot be transferred to other vehicles.

Sequence numbers may be reserved for new vehicle registrations only on completion of form VRT15A and payment of €1,000. This reservation was withdrawn from used imported vehicles on first Irish registration in 2015.

• Most registration numbers can be reserved, with the exception of the first number of each year issued in Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Waterford as these are reserved for the respective mayor/lord mayor of these cities.^[6]

Thus, for example, in 2019, Lord Mayor Paul McAuliffe, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, was entitled to receive the registration plate 191-D-1 on his official vehicle.

• Luxury cars with numeric names are often registered with a matching, usually pre-reserved sequence number: for example 06-D-911 on a Porsche 911or06-D-750 BMW 750or03-C-5 for a 2003 Citroen C5 and 08-D-89 for an Aston Martin DB9.
• Dublin radio station FM104 tend to register their vehicles with reserved number sequences ending with "104", e.g. 05-D-38104.

There are only two pre-1987 codes still issued in Ireland.

• "ZZ", administered by the AA Ireland as agents for the Revenue Commissioners, is given to registrants who are based outside the state and who only intend keeping the vehicle within Ireland for a period not exceeding one month. This form of temporary registration is usually used for vehicles that are purchased within Ireland but exported by its new owner to another sovereign state directly after purchase. The format of the code is ZZ followed by a five digit number.
• "ZV", which can be selected as an alternative to the current scheme when registering a vehicle older than 30 years for the first time in Ireland.

Imported used cars are registered based on the year of first registration in their country of original registration rather than the year of import. Early in this system, each county used to have a continuous sequence of numbers for vehicles so if a new car registered on 31 December 2010 was 10 D 37456, then the next registered car from 2010 registered in 2011 would be 10 D 37457. This changed in late 2011 when each county (prior to 2010) had their next available sequence number increased. For example, 10-D-120006 would be the 6th import in Dublin of a car from 2010, as Dublin's re-registration band starts at 120000. Meath's starts at 15000.

Vehicles registered to the Irish Defence Forces have plates with silver letters on black background. These do not feature the Irish-language county name.

Trade plates have plates with white letters on a dark green background, but with the reverse style of the normal plates: the trader’s number for that year is displayed first, the county second, and the applicable year last.

Diplomatic plates are very similar to civilian format, except for the small "CD" between the index mark code and serial number. Code CD is not always shown in Diplomatic plates. ^[7]

The city codes are a single letter, the initial letter of its English-language name. Most county codes use the first and last letters of the county's name. For example, Sligo is SO. The exceptions to this are:

• The "D" code which is used for County Dublin is co-extensive and is in use for the counties of Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown and Dublin City.
• Where the county shares its registration function with the city of the same name, in which case both use the single-letter code. An example of this is County Cork, which shares the same name with Cork City, and takes the code "C".
• Where a conflict exists, i.e. Kerry is KY, so Kilkenny is KK; and County Waterford was (until 2014) WD, (subsequently changed to “W”), so Wexford is WX.
• The "T" code which is used County Tipperary. This is because the county was, until 2014, divided into Tipperary North Riding (TN) and Tipperary South Riding (TS).

The codes are similar to the ISO 3166-2 codes for Irish counties. An exception is that the ISO code for Cork is IE-CO, since IE-C is used for the provinceofConnacht, and the ISO code for Tipperary is IE-TA (from the Irish name Tiobraid Árann).^[8]

Note: in the case of Counties Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford, where a vehicle has been first brought into use in another country prior to 1 January 2014 and is subsequently imported into and registered in Ireland, the codes L, LK, TS, TN, W, and WD as formerly applicable continue to be issued for such vehicles. This is to maintain the integrity of the numbering system in place for the years prior to 2014.^[9]

Codes used from 1987 to 2013:^[9]

Ireland first introduced the now common blue European Union strip (comprising the European flag symbol and the country code of the member state) on the left-hand side of the number plate in 1991, following the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations statute of 1990 (S.I. No. 287/1990).^[10] A similar band was adopted by Portugal in 1992 and by Germany in 1994^[11] and was standardised across the EU on 11 November 1998 by Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98.^[12]

From 1903, the system used in Ireland was part of the original British system of identifiers. This was superseded in Ireland on 1 January 1987.

A two-letter code containing the letter I was allocated to each administrative county in alphabetical order (the full list appears below), with the initial registration format being the code followed by a sequence number from 1 to 9999, as in Great Britain. The codes allocated ran from IAtoIZ, then from AItoWI, with the letters G, S, and V skipped as these were intended for Scotland.^[13] In 1921, shortly before the creation of the Irish Free State, Belfast and Dublin City completed their original marks and thus took the next available codes, XI and YI respectively, with Dublin City then taking ZI in 1927. After this, most other codes with Z as the first letter (again skipping those containing G, S and V) were allocated in alphabetical order, starting with single-letter Z – the only one-letter code used in Ireland – for County Dublin. (This does not include the ZZ code for temporary imports, introduced in 1925.)

In February 1952, a joint motor taxation authority was set up for Dublin City and county, and their codes were merged. Two years later, with all possible codes (at the time) allocated, a new format was introduced with a serial letter added before the code, and the sequence number running only to 999 (thus limiting the number of characters on a number plate to six). The Dublin joint authority was the first to adopt this format when it issued ARI 1 in May 1954, and each county followed suit once all its two-letter combinations had been issued. In the case of counties with more than one code, all the three-letter marks for the first allocated code would be issued, then all such marks for the second code, and so on (see the lists of series per county below).

G, S and V were not used as serial letters at first, while Z was not used before a code starting with that letter, so as to prevent any clashing with ZZ temporary registrations. Several other three-letter marks were not issued either through oversight or because they were deemed offensive, and the single-letter Z code was left out of this format as a serial letter would have created a duplicate of an existing two-letter code, particularly one used in Northern Ireland.

Initially, all number plates had been black with white or silver characters, but in 1969 the option of black-on-white at the front and black-on-red at the rear was introduced.

In February 1970, the Dublin joint authority exhausted all its three-letter combinations and thus began issuing "reversed" registrations, starting with the original two-letter codes (plus single-letter Z) in order of allocation. These were followed from July 1974 onwards by the three-letter marks (1 ARI etc.), issued in the same manner as for the forward versions. Again, other counties followed this example over time. Also in 1974, Cork followed Dublin's example of setting up a joint motor taxation authority for city and county, though their codes were not merged until August 1985.

In 1982, with Dublin and several other counties having exhausted all possible combinations of their original codes, it was decided to allocate the skipped codes containing G, S and V to these counties. In the cases of these codes, the forward three-letter combinations were issued first in the same manner as before, followed by the forward two-letter combinations.

Under this system, Irish vehicle registration marks could be transferred to Britain for re-registration on other vehicles, even after Irish independence, and even though they could not be re-used within Ireland. The letter I in many combinations made these attractive for collectors, and indeed the Kilkenny issue VIP 1 fetched a record price at auction. Since the introduction of the current system in 1987, such exports have been impossible, even for old-format registrations, although those already exported may still be re-transferred.

The 1987 system allocated single-letter codes to the county boroughs (including those shared with counties) and two-letter codes to the other counties. Normally these are the initial and final letter of the English-language name of the county (except where duplicates would result). Until 1991, all plates under this system consisted solely of black characters on white, on both front and rear. However, in that year, the blue EU identifier and the official Irish language name of the county were added, the latter as a result of the controversy arising from using English as the basis, described by Conradh na Gaeilge, an organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide, as "a fiasco".^[14]

Vehicles first registered outside the state before 1987 are allowed to be re-registered using only the current system, with a year number preceding 87 – for instance, a vehicle from 1964 re-registered in Meath would have 64-MH at the start of its registration.

In 2013, the year was changed to a 3-digit year with the third digit being 1 for January to June and 2 for July to December, for example, 131 for January–June 2013 and 132 for July–December 2013.^[1] The decision to change the year was based partly on superstition about an unlucky '13' registration, but also to boost sales in the second half of the year.^[15]

The first codes were allocated in 1903, when all of Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom. The codes were based on the alphabetical order of counties and county boroughs (cities) as they were named at the time. King's County and Queen's County were renamed Offaly and Laois respectively following the independence of most of Ireland as the Irish Free State. Counties and county boroughs in italics are in Northern Ireland and still use the 1903 system.

Codes with the letters G, S and V were reserved until the 1980s when they were taken by counties that had exhausted all the combinations for their original codes.

Carlow CC: IC

IC 1toIC 9999^[a] (Dec 1903 – Apr 1964).

AIC 1toYIC 994 (Apr 1964 – Dec 1986).

Cavan CC: ID

ID 1toID 9999 (Jan 1904 – Jul 1958).

AID 1toZID 999 (Jul 1958 – Dec 1976).

1 IDto9999 ID (Dec 1976 – Feb 1981).

1 AIDto906 IID (Feb 1981 – Dec 1986).

Clare CC IE

IE 1toIE 9999^[b] (Jan 1904 – Mar 1959).

AIE 1toZIE 999 (Mar 1959 – Nov 1974).

1 IEto9999 IE (Nov 1974 – Sep 1978).

1 AIEto107 XIE (Sep 1978 – Dec 1986).

Cork CC: (in original issuing sequence) IF ZB ZK ZT

IF 1toIF 9999 (Dec 1903 – Apr 1935);

ZB 1toZB 9999 (Apr 1935 – Apr 1949);

ZK 1toZK 9999 (Apr 1949 – May 1953);

ZT 1toZT 9999 (May 1953 – Dec 1955).

AIF 1toZIF 999 (Dec 1955 – Apr 1962);

AZB 1toYZB 999 (Apr 1962 – Aug 1966);

AZK 1toYZK 999 (Aug 1966 – Aug 1970);

AZT 1toYZT 999 (Aug 1970 – Nov 1973).

1 IFto9999 IF (Nov 1973 – May 1975);

1 ZBto9999 ZB (May 1975 – Jul 1976);

1 ZKto9999 ZK (Jul 1976 – Aug 1977);

1 ZTto9999 ZT (Aug 1977 – Jun 1978).

1 AIFto999 ZIF (Jun 1978 – Sep 1980);

1 AZBto999 YZB (Sep 1980 – Jun 1983);

1 AZKto999 PZK (Jun 1983 – Aug 1985);

1 RZKto999 YZK (Aug 1985 – May 1986).

In June 1974 Cork County Council and Cork County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority, administered by the County Council. However, separate registers continued in use for the County and the County Borough until the expiry of reverse ZPI in August 1985. See below for the sequences issued covering both areas. Marks in italics are after the merger.

Cork City: (in original issuing sequence) PI ZF

PI 1toPI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Aug 1946);

ZF 1toZF 9999 (Aug 1946 – Dec 1958).

API 1toZPI 999 (Dec 1958 – Feb 1970);

AZF 1toYZF 999 (Feb 1970 – Mar 1976).

1 PIto9999 PI (Mar 1976 – Jun 1978);

1 ZFto9999 ZF (Jun 1978 – Feb 1980).

1 APIto999 ZPI (Feb 1980 – Aug 1985).

In June 1974 Cork County Council and Cork County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority, administered by the County Council. However, separate registers continued in use for the County and the County Borough until the expiry of reverse ZPI in August 1985. See below for the sequences issued covering both areas.

Cork County and County Borough Joint Office: (in issuing sequence) reverse 3-letter sequences of (R)ZK ZF

1 RZKto999 YZK (Aug 1985 – May 1986);

1 AZFto542 FZF (May 1986 – Dec 1986).

Donegal CC: (in original issuing sequence) IH ZP

IH 1toIH 9999³ (Dec 1903 – Jan 1952);

ZP 1toZP 9999 (Jan 1952 – Nov 1961).

AIH 1toZIH 999 (Nov 1961 – Apr 1976);

AZP 1toZZP 407⁴ (Apr 1976 – Feb 1982).

408 IHto9999 IH (Feb 1982 – Apr 1985);

1 ZPto4853 ZP (Apr 1985 – Dec 1986).

³ A duplicate series of IH for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.

⁴ ZZP was not authorised by SR&O (Statutory Rules & Orders) and was issued in error – no retrospective SR&O was issued to legitimise its issue. When the error was discovered ZZP was terminated at 407; in consequence the next series (reverse IH) commenced at 408.

Dublin CC (until 1952): (in original issuing sequence) IK Z ZE

IK 1toIK 9999⁵ (Dec 1903 – Mar 1927);

Z 1toZ 9999 (Mar 1927 – Sep 1938);

ZE 1toZE 9999 (Sep 1938 – Feb 1952).

⁵ A duplicate series of IK for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.

In February 1952 Dublin County Council and Dublin County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority. The joint office was administered by Dublin County Borough Council. See below for subsequent issues.

Dublin City (until 1952): (in original issuing sequence) RI YI ZI ZA ZC ZD ZH ZJ ZL

RI 1toRI 9999⁶ (Dec 1903 – Apr 1921);

YI 1toYI 9999 (Apr 1921 – Mar 1927);

ZI 1toZI 9999 (Mar 1927 – May 1933);

ZA 1toZA 9999 (May 1933 – Mar 1937);

ZC 1toZC 9999 (Mar 1937 – Jan 1940);

ZD 1toZD 9999 (Jan 1940 – Jan 1947);

ZH 1toZH 9999 (Jan 1947 – Jan 1949);

ZJ 1toZJ 9999 (Jan 1949 – Jul 1950);

ZL 1toZL 9999 (Jul 1950 – Feb 1952).

⁶ A duplicate series up to RI 3000 for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.

In February 1952 Dublin County Council and Dublin County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority. The joint office was administered by Dublin County Borough Council. See below for subsequent issues.

Dublin County and County Borough Joint Office (from February 1952): (in original issuing sequence) forward 2-letter sequences of ZO ZU; then forward 3-letter combinations of RI IK YI ZA ZC ZD ZE ZH ZI ZJ ZL ZO ZU; then reverse 2-letter sequences of RI IK YI Z ZA ZC ZD ZE ZH ZI ZJ ZL ZO ZU; then reverse 3-letter combinations of RI IK YI ZA ZC ZD ZE ZH ZI ZJ ZL ZO ZU; then forward 3-letter combinations of SI ZG ZS ZV; then forward 2-letter sequences of SI ZG ZS ZV.

ZO 1toZO 9999 (Feb 1952 – May 1953);

ZU 1toZU 9999 (May 1953 – May 1954).

ARI 1toYRI 999⁷ (May 1954 – Sep 1955);

AIK 1toZIK 999⁸ (Sep 1955 – Nov 1957);

AYI 1toYYI 999⁹ (Nov 1957 – Oct 1959);

AZA 1toYZA 999 (Oct 1959 – Jan 1961);

AZC 1toYZC 999 (Jan 1961 – Apr 1962);

AZD 1toYZD 999 (Apr 1962 – May 1963);

AZE 1toYZE 999 (May 1963 – Jun 1964);

AZH 1toYZH 999 (Jun 1964 – May 1965);

AZI 1toYZI 999 (May 1965 – Jun 1966);

AZJ 1toYZJ 999 (Jun 1966 – Jun 1967);

AZL 1toYZL 999 (Jun 1967 – May 1968);

AZO 1toYZO 999 (May 1968 – Mar 1969);

AZU 1toYZU 999 (Mar 1969 – Feb 1970).

1 RIto9999 RI (Feb – May 1970);

1 IKto9999 IK (May – Sep 1970);

1 YIto9999 YI (Sep 1970 – Feb 1971);

1 Zto9999 Z (Feb – Jun 1971);

1 ZAto9999 ZA (Jun – Oct 1971);

1 ZCto9999 ZC (Oct 1971 – Mar 1972);

1 ZDto9999 ZD (Mar – Jun 1972);

1 ZEto9999 ZE (Jun – Oct 1972);

1 ZHto9999 ZH (Oct 1972 – Feb 1973);

1 ZIto9999 ZI (Feb – May 1973);

1 ZJto9999 ZJ (May – Aug 1973);

1 ZLto9999 ZL (Aug – Dec 1973);

1 ZOto9999 ZO (Dec 1973 – Apr 1974);

1 ZUto9999 ZU (Apr – Jul 1974).

1 ARIto999 YRI⁷ (Jul 1974 – May 1975);

1 AIKto999 ZIK⁸ (May 1975 – Mar 1976);

1 AYIto999 YYI⁹ (Mar 1976 – Jan 1977);

1 AZAto999 YZA (Jan – Aug 1977);

1 AZCto999 YZC (Aug 1977 – Mar 1978);

1 AZDto999 YZD (Mar – Sep 1978);

1 AZEto999 YZE (Sep 1978 – Apr 1979);

1 AZHto999 YZH (Apr – Oct 1979);

1 AZIto999 YZI (Oct 1979 – Apr 1980);

1 AZJto999 YZJ (Apr 1980 – Jan 1981);

1 AZLto999 YZL (Jan – May 1981);

1 AZOto999 YZO (May 1981 – Jan 1982);

1 AZUto999 YZU (Jan – Aug 1982).

ASI 1toZSI 999 (Aug 1982 – Jun 1983);

AZG 1toYZG 999 (Jun 1983 – May 1984);

AZS 1toYZS 999 (May 1984 – Mar 1985);

AZV 1toYZV 999 (Mar 1985 – Jan 1986).

SI 1toSI 9999 (Jan – Apr 1986);

ZG 1toZG 9999 (Apr – Jul 1986);

ZS 1toZS 8709 (Jul – Dec 1986);

ZV 1¹⁰ and up (1989? - present).

⁷ GRI, IRI, SRI, VRI and ZRI (both original and reverse format) were not issued.

⁸ GIK, SIK and VIK (both original and reverse format) were not issued.

⁹ ZIK (both original and reverse format) were not issued.

¹⁰ Forward 2-letter sequences of ZV were issued as an alternative to the current scheme for vehicles older than 30-years for the first time in Ireland, and also issued countrywide.

International circulations (from April 1925): ZZ

ZZ 1toZZ 9999 (Apr 1925 – Mar 1983);

1 ZZto9999 ZZ (Mar 1983 – Mar 1989);

ZZ 10000¹¹ and up (circa Mar 1989 - present).

¹¹ Some reserved number blocks issued out of sequence within main block.

Galway CC: (in original issuing sequence) IM ZM

IM 1toIM 9999 (Jan 1904 – Oct 1950);

ZM 1toZM 9999 (Oct 1950 – Nov 1959).

AIM 1toZIM 999 (Nov 1959 – May 1970);

AZM 1toYZM 999 (May 1970 – Aug 1976).

1 IMto9999 IM (Aug 1976 – Apr 1978);

1 ZMto9999 ZM (Apr 1978 – Oct 1979).

1 AIMto999 ZIM (Oct 1979 – Feb 1985);

1 AZMto797 GZM (Feb 1985 – Dec 1986).

Kerry CC: (in original issuing sequence) IN ZX

IN 1toIN 9999 (Dec 1903 – Jan 1954);

ZX 1toZX 9999 (Jan 1954 – Jan 1962).

AIN 1toZIN 999 (Jan 1962 – Jan 1973);

AZX 1toYZX 999 (Jan 1973 – Jun 1979).

1 INto9999 IN (Jun 1979 – Jan 1982);

1 ZXto9999 ZX (Jan 1982 – Jan 1986).

1 AINto375 CIN (Jan – Dec 1986).

Kildare CC: (in original issuing sequence) IO ZW

IO 1toIO 9999 (Dec 1903 – Jun 1953);

ZW 1toZW 9999 (Jun 1953 – Apr 1963).

AIO 1toZIO 999¹² (Apr 1963 – Mar 1976);

AZW 1toYZW 999 (Mar 1976 – May 1983).

1 ZWto9343 ZW (May 1983 – Dec 1986).

¹² IIO and OIO were not issued.

Kilkenny CC: IP

IP 1toIP 9999 (Jan 1904 – Feb 1955);

AIP 1toZIP 999¹³ (Feb 1955 – Jul 1974).

1 IPto9999 IP (Jul 1974 – Oct 1978);

1 AIPto235 UIP¹³ (Oct 1978 – Dec 1986).

¹³ GIP, KIP were not issued in original format, RIP were not issued in reverse format.

VIP1 issued in 1971 was later transferred to the UK licensing system where it is currently issued.

Laoighis CC ( renamed Laoighis (alternative spellings Laois and Leix) in June 1922): CI

CI 1toCI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Jul 1960).

ACI 1toZCI 999 (Jul 1960 – Apr 1981).

1 CIto7342 CI (Apr 1981 – Dec 1986).

Leitrim CC: IT

IT 1toIT 9999¹⁴ (Dec 1903 – May 1972).

AIT 1toKIT 780 (May 1972 – Dec 1986).

¹⁴ A duplicate series of IT for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.

Limerick CC: IU IV

IU 1toIU 9999 (Dec 1903 – Nov 1954).

AIU 1toZIU 999¹⁵ (Nov 1954 – Sep 1971).

1 IUto9999 IU (Sep 1971 – May 1975).

1 AIUto999 ZIU¹⁵ (May 1975 – Feb 1982)(note reverse GIU not issued).

AIV 1toOIV 520¹⁶ (Feb 1982 – Dec 1986).

¹⁵ GIU (both original and reverse format) were not issued; JIU 111 issued early in December 1961 – main JIU sequence commenced April 1962.

¹⁶ IIV and MIV were not issued.

Limerick City: TI

TI 1toTI 9999 (Jan 1904 – Oct 1959).

ATI 1toZTI 999 (Oct 1959 – Mar 1977).

1 TIto9999 TI (Mar 1977 – Jan 1982).

1 ATIto929 FTI (Jan 1982 – Dec 1986).

Longford CC: IX

IX 1toIX 9999 (Dec 1903 – Feb 1970).

AIX 1toPIX 710 (Feb 1970 – Dec 1986).

Louth CC: (in original issuing sequence) IY ZY

IY 1toIY 9999 (Dec 1903 – Oct 1954);

ZY 1toZY 9999 (Oct 1954 – Jan 1964).

AIY 1toZIY 999 (Jan 1964 – Oct 1976);

AZY 1toYZY 999 (Oct 1976 – Sep 1985).

101 ZYto2507 ZY (Sep 1985 – Dec 1986).

Mayo CC: IZ IS

IZ 1toIZ 9999 (Jan 1904 – Oct 1954).

AIZ 1toZIZ 999¹⁷ (Oct 1954 – May 1971).

1 IZto9999 IZ (May 1971 – Feb 1976).

1 AIZto999 ZIZ¹⁷ (Feb 1976 – Apr 1983).

AIS 1toHIS 990 (Apr 1983 – Dec 1986).

¹⁷ GIZ (both original and reversed format) were not issued.

Meath CC: (in original issuing sequence) AI ZN

AI 1toAI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Sep 1951);

ZN 1toZN 9999 (Sep 1951 – Feb 1962).

AAI 1toZAI 999 (Feb 1962 – Jun 1975);

AZN 1toYZN 999 (Jun 1975 – Oct 1982).

1 AIto9999 AI (Oct 1982 – Dec 1986);

10 ZNto88 ZN (Dec 1986).

Monaghan CC: BI

BI 1toBI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Mar 1961).

ABI 1toZBI 999 (Mar 1961 – Oct 1981).

1 BIto6540 BI (Oct 1981 – Dec 1986).

Offaly CC (County Council of Kings County, renamed Offaly in June 1922): IR

IR 1toIR 9999 (Jan 1904 – May 1960).

AIR 1toZIR 999 (May 1960 – Mar 1981).

1 IRto7834 IR (Mar 1981 – Dec 1986).

Roscommon CC: DI

DI 1toDI 9999¹⁸ (Dec 1903 – Jan 1963).

ADI 1toZDI 999 (Jan 1963 – Apr 1980).

1 DIto9999 DI (Apr 1980 – Feb 1986).

100 ADIto292 BDI (Feb – Dec 1986).

¹⁸ A duplicate series of DI for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.

Sligo CC: EI

EI 1toEI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Nov 1959).

AEI 1toZEI 999 (Nov 1959 – Feb 1980).

1 EIto9999 EI (Feb 1980 – Apr 1986).

1 AEIto835 AEI (Apr – Dec 1986).

Tipperary North Riding CC: FI

FI 1toFI 9999¹⁹ (Dec 1903 – Jan 1958).

AFI 1toZFI 999²⁰ (Jan 1958 – May 1977).

1 FIto9999 FI (May 1977 – Jan 1981).

1 AFIto418 JFI (Jan 1981 – Dec 1986).

¹⁹ FI 1-50 issued for cars only; then duplicate series for cars and motorcycles from FI 51 up, until 1920.

²⁰ The series with the prefix JFI never issued although the series with the suffix JFI was issued. ZFI was not authorised by SR&O (Statutory Rules & Orders) No.128, issued 18 May 1967 and was issued in error, commencing Dec 1976. SR&O No.128 only authorised the blocks KFI-PFI and RFI-YFI. No retrospective SR&O was issued to legitimise ZFI's issue.

Tipperary South Riding CC: HI GI

HI 1toHI 9999²¹ (Dec 1903 – Sep 1954).

AHI 1toZHI 999 (Sep 1954 – Nov 1971).

1 HIto9999 HI²¹ (Nov 1971 – May 1976).

1 AHIto999 ZHI (May 1976 – May 1985).

AGI 1toCGI 871 (May 1985 – Dec 1986).

²¹ GHI and IHI (both original and reversed format) were not issued.

Waterford CC: KI

KI 1toKI 9999 (Jan 1904 – Mar 1961).

AKI 1toZKI 999 (Mar 1961 – Jul 1979).

1 KIto9999 KI (Jul 1979 – Jun 1986).

1 AKIto586 AKI (Jun – Dec 1986).

Waterford City: WI

WI 1toWI 9999 (Jan 1904 – Jan 1966).

AWI 1toWWI 80 (Jan 1966 – Dec 1986).

Westmeath CC: LI

LI 1toLI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Jun 1959).

ALI 1toZLI 999 (Jun 1959 – Aug 1978).

1 LIto9999 LI (Aug 1978 – Feb 1983).

1 ALIto869 GLI (Feb 1983 – Dec 1986).

Wexford CC: (in original issuing sequence) MI ZR

MI 1toMI 9999²² (Jan 1904 – Jan 1952);

ZR 1toZR 9999 (Jan 1952 – May 1961).

AMI 1toYMI 999²³ (May 1961 – Jul 1973);

AZR 1toYZR 999 (Jul 1973 – Jun 1980).

1 MIto9999 MI (Jun 1980 – Oct 1983);

1 ZRto8071 ZR (Oct 1983 – Dec 1986).

²² MI 9922-9999 were issued by the Police in 1921 as a consequence of The Road Vehicles (Defaulting Councils)(Ireland) Order, 1921.

²³ ZMI were not issued.

Wicklow CC: NI

NI 1toNI 9999 (Jan 1904 – May 1957).

ANI 1toZNI 999²⁴ (May 1957 – May 1975).

1 NIto9999 NI (May 1975 – Mar 1979).

1 ANIto426 TNI (Mar 1979 – Dec 1986).

²⁴ QNI was issued in Northern Ireland for cars with indeterminate age, kit cars.

On 1 January 1987, a completely new registration plate system was introduced for new vehicles.

Vehicles older than 1987 imported into Ireland from 1987 were not given age-related numbers from the old system but were included in the new system. Their initial year number and county (i.e. A UK reg 1967 Ford Cortina (MHW 7E) would be registered as 67-D-1 (e.g. 67-D (or any county initial) 1) This would state the year of its first registration or manufacture outside the state but since 2011 these numbers have begun at 120000 which is not historical or authentic (e.g. 67-D-120001). A 1986 Opel with right-hand-drive registered in Ireland would have a pre-1987 style registration plate, the same model car with left-hand-drive imported from the rest of Europe or a Vauxhall from England, Scotland or Wales would have new 86 registration plate.^{[citation needed]} Volkswagen Beetle cars that were imported as knock-down kits from Mexico and assembled up to the mid-2000s were registered in Ireland on original Irish reg chassis having pre-1987 number plates. Pre-1987 registration plates are few and far between nowadays and are mostly found at vintage car shows.

• Motor Tax in the Republic of Ireland
• Vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom
• Vehicle registration plate
• List of international license plate codes
• Vienna Convention on Road Traffic

Wikimedia Commons has media related to License plates of Ireland.

• U.K. and R.O.I. Vehicle Registration Marks
• A Brief History Lesson – Registrations
• Vehicle registration plates in Ireland
• Revenue Commissioners Format of Vehicle Registration Plates
• Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98 of 3 November 1998 EU standardised number plate