Vehicle registration plates of the Republic of Ireland

In Ireland, vehicle registration plates are the visual indications of motor vehicle registration which has been mandatory since 1903 to display on most motor vehicles used on public roads in Ireland. The alphanumeric marks themselves are issued by the local authority in which a vehicle is first registered. 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, and cannot be transferred to other vehicles.

Format

The current specification for number plates is the format YYH–CC–SSSSSS. Those issued from 1987 to 2012 had the format YY–CC–SSSSSS.
The components are:YY or YYH – a numeric year or half-year identifier based on date of the vehicle's first registration.

* The former YY format used the last two digits of the year the car was registered.
* The YYH format used since 2013 appends a 1 or 2 as a third digit depending on which half of the year the car was registered: 1 for January–June and 2 for July–December.CC – a one- or two-letter identifier of the area of the licensing authority, which registers vehicles on behalf of one or more local authorities. For example:
* D is the identifier for County Dublin
* SO is the identifier for County Sligo SSSSSS – a one- to six-digit sequence number, starting with the first vehicle registered in the licensing authority area that year or half-year. For example, the 12,345th vehicle registered in Dublin in 1989 would display 89-D-12345; the 56,789th registered in Dublin in the first half of 2023 would display 231-D-56789.

Specifications

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 List of [international vehicle registration codes|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. From July 2025, new and existing vehicles emitting zero emissions at the tailpipe can optionally be registered with a green vertical band; rectangular plates have the green band printed to the right of the plate, while square plates feature the green band below the blue country identifier band.
The current regulations are set out in the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations, 1999, as amended by the Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations 2012 and Vehicle Registration and Taxation Regulations 2025. 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 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. 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.
If the plate's format does not meet the requirements, the vehicle will fail the mandatory periodic National Car Test, although some owners of custom plates evade this by switching to conformant plates temporarily for the NCT. As automatic number-plate recognition has become prevalent on toll roads and for traffic enforcement cameras, the use of hard-to-read nonstandard plates has become a concern. It is a criminal offence not to display plates in the specified format, liable to a fine after summary conviction of up to €5,000. In 2008, the Revenue Commissioners issued 69 formal warnings and launched no criminal prosecutions. The Road Traffic Act 2016 authorised the Garda Síochána to issue a fixed-charge penalty instead of prosecution. The power was extended to the Revenue Commissioners in 2023. However, the statutory instrument setting the applicable penalty was not made until 2024, and the Garda mobile app connecting to its PULSE IT system was not updated until October 2025.

Current implementation

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.

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 911 or 06-D-750 BMW 750 or 03-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.

Special formats

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 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.

Index mark codes

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:

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 WD,, so We'xford is WX.
The "T" code which is used in County T'ipperary. This is because the county was, until 2014, divided into Tipperary North Riding and Tipperary South Riding.

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 province of Connacht, and the ISO code for Tipperary is IE-TA.

Current index mark codes

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.

Former index mark codes

Codes used from 1987 to 2013:

Code	Local authority
LK	Limerick County Council
TN	North Tipperary County Council
TS	South Tipperary County Council
WD	Waterford County Council

EU standardised vehicle registration plates

was the first country to introduce the now common blue European Union strip on the left-hand side of the number plate in 1991, following the Road Vehicles Regulations statute of 1990. A similar band was adopted by Portugal in 1992 and by Germany in 1994 and was standardised across the EU on 11 November 1998 by Council Regulation No 2411/98.

History

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, 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 IA to IZ, then from AI to WI, with the letters G, S, and V skipped as these were intended for Scotland. The full list was as follows:

Code	County
IA	Antrim
IB	Armagh
IC	Carlow
ID	Cavan
IE	Clare
IF	Cork
IH	Donegal
IJ	Down
IK	Dublin
IL	Fermanagh
IM	Galway
IN	Kerry
IO	Kildare
IP	Kilkenny
IR	Offaly
IT	Leitrim
IU	Limerick
IW	Londonderry
IX	Longford
IY	Louth
IZ	Mayo
AI	Meath
BI	Monaghan
CI	Laois
DI	Roscommon
EI	Sligo
FI	Tipperary North Riding
HI	Tipperary South Riding
JI	Tyrone
KI	Waterford
LI	Westmeath
MI	Wexford
NI	Wicklow

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 were allocated in alphabetical order, starting with single-letter Z – the only one-letter code used in Ireland – for County Dublin.
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 allocated, a new format was introduced with a serial letter added before the code, and the sequence number running only to 999. 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.
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 in order of allocation. These were followed from July 1974 onwards by the three-letter marks, 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.
In the 1980s, it became apparent that all possible combinations under the numbering system then in force would soon become exhausted. In Northern Ireland, this problem was rectified by the addition of additional digits. In the Republic of Ireland, it was decided to introduce an entirely new system with the format of double digits indicating the year of first registration, followed by one or two letters indicating the county of first registration, followed by a number, assigned to vehicles registered in a particular county in order. The new system was introduced on 1 January 1987.
The 1987 system allocated single-letter codes to the county boroughs and two-letter codes to the other counties. Normally these are the initial and final letter of the English-language name of the county. The full list was as follows:

Code	Local Authority
CW	Carlow
CN	Cavan
CE	Clare
C	Cork
DL	Donegal
D	Dublin
G	Galway
KY	Kerry
KD	Kildare
KK	Kilkenny
LS	Laois
LM	Leitrim
L	Limerick
LK	Limerick
LH	Louth
MO	Mayo
MH	Meath
MN	Monaghan
OY	Offaly
RN	Roscommon
SO	Sligo
TN	Tipperary North Riding
TS	Tipperary South Riding
W	Waterford
WD	Waterford
WH	Westmeath
WX	Wexford
WW	Wicklow

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".
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. 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.

Pre-1987 mark codes

The first codes were allocated in 1903, when all of Ireland was still part of the United [Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]. The codes were based on the alphabetical order of counties and county boroughs 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.

letter	code	County or city	code	County or city	code	County or city
A	IA	Antrim	AI	Meath	ZA	Dublin City
B	IB	Armagh	BI	Monaghan	ZB	Cork County
C	IC	Carlow	CI	Queen's County	ZC	Dublin City
D	ID	Cavan	DI	Roscommon	ZD	Dublin City
E	IE	Clare	EI	Sligo	ZE	Dublin County
F	IF	Cork County	FI	Tipperary North Riding	ZF	Cork City
H	IH	Donegal	HI	Tipperary South Riding	ZH	Dublin City
J	IJ	Down	JI	Tyrone	ZJ	Dublin City
K	IK	Dublin County	KI	Waterford County	ZK	Cork County
L	IL	Fermanagh	LI	Westmeath	ZL	Dublin City
M	IM	Galway	MI	Wexford	ZM	Galway County
N	IN	Kerry	NI	Wicklow	ZN	Meath
O	IO	Kildare	OI	Belfast City	ZO	Dublin City and County
P	IP	Kilkenny	PI	Cork City	ZP	Donegal
R	IR	King's County	RI	Dublin City	ZR	Wexford
T	IT	Leitrim	TI	Limerick City	ZT	Cork County
U	IU	Limerick County	UI	Derry City	ZU	Dublin City and County
W	IW	County Londonderry	WI	Waterford City	ZW	Kildare
X	IX	Longford	XI	Belfast City	ZX	Kerry
Y	IY	Louth	YI	Dublin City	ZY	Louth
Z	IZ	Mayo	ZI	Dublin City	ZZ	Temporary registrations
					Z	Dublin County
G	IG	Fermanagh	GI	Tipperary South Riding	ZG	Dublin City and County
S	IS	Mayo	SI	Dublin City and County	ZS	Dublin City and County
V	IV	Limerick	VI	British Virgin Islands Derry City	ZV	Dublin City and County / vehicles >30 years old

Series per county 1903–1986

Carlow CC: IC
Cavan CC: ID
Clare CC IE
Cork CC: IF ZB ZK ZT
Cork City: PI ZF
Cork County and County Borough Joint Office: reverse 3-letter sequences of ZK ''ZF
Donegal CC: IH ZP
Dublin CC : IK Z ZE
Dublin City : RI YI ZI ZA ZC ZD ZH ZJ ZL
Dublin County and County Borough Joint Office : 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.
International circulations : ZZ
Galway CC: IM ZM
Galway city became a separate local authority area from Galway county on 4 April 1985, but the two councils remained a single licensing authority.
Kerry CC: IN ZX
Kildare CC: IO ZW
Kilkenny CC: IP
VIP1 issued in 1971 was later transferred to the UK licensing system where it is currently issued.
Laoighis CC : CI
Leitrim CC: IT
Limerick CC: IU IV
Limerick City: TI
Longford CC: IX
Louth CC: IY ZY
Mayo CC: IZ IS
Meath CC: AI ZN
Monaghan CC: BI
Offaly CC : IR
Roscommon CC: DI
Sligo CC: EI
Tipperary North Riding CC: FI
Tipperary South Riding CC: HI GI
Waterford CC: KI
Waterford City: WI
Westmeath CC: LI
Wexford CC: MI ZR
Wicklow CC: NI''
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 would be registered as 67-D-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. 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. 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.