The Series B banknotes () of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

replaced the

Series A banknotes The Series A banknotes () were the first banknotes created by and for the Irish Free State in 1928Central Bank of Ireland Series A (1928 - 1975 / 77) “The Lady Lavery Series”/ref> and continued to be issued when the Free State became the R ...

. The banknotes were issued between 1976 and 1992 by the Central Bank of Ireland, before being replaced in 1993 by Series C banknotes.Central Bank of Ireland
Series B (1976/82 - 1989/ 93)
/ref>

Banknotes

The Central Bank announced its intention for the new banknotes in December 1971 and Servicon, an Irish design company, was employed to design the notes of the denominations; £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100. The £100 note was never issued or circulated; this remains somewhat of an idiosyncrasy in the issue of Irish banknotes as this is the only series without a note of this denomination. The series was Legal Tender from 1976–1995, although not printed after May 1993. The theme chosen for these notes was history of Ireland, and each note featured the portrait of a person with this theme in mind from a particular era from historic to modern and complementing visual elements. The portrait of Lady Lavery painted by Sir John Lavery was retained from Series A; contained as a watermark in the unprinted space. Each banknote has the signature of the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland and the Secretary of the Department of Finance. During much of the period of circulation of this series, foreign exchange controls prohibited the export of any notes larger than £20 from the Republic.

One Pound

The one pound note has a portrait of Medb, the legendary Queen of Connacht in

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

. Also a pre-Christian geometric design based on those found on bone slips is used in on the note, the background is an excerpt from the Táin. The reverse is a decorated excerpt from Lebor na hUidre, the oldest surviving Irish

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

. The one pound note was removed from circulation from June 1990 as it was replaced by the Irish pound coin. It was the final one pound note to be circulated and the first note of Series B to be removed from circulation.

Five Pounds

The five pound note has a portrait of Johannes Scotus Eriugena, the

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, of the ninth century. The letter A from the start of Psalm 17 of the Psalter of Ricemarcus is used against the Book of Durrow. The reverse features an adaptation of animal and script extracts from the

Book of Kells The Book of Kells (; ; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illustrated manuscript and Celts, Celtic Gospel book in Latin, containing the Gospel, four Gospels of the New Testament togeth ...

, an eighth century copy of the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

Ten Pounds

The ten pound has a portrait of Dean

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

the

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

. The background contains a reproduction of the coat of arms of Dublin from a city council resolution against a letter by Swift from April 1735. The reverse has a portion of a map of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

which was published by John Rocque in 1756. Great Abbey Street and Astons Quay - now known as Middle Abbey Street and Aston Quay respectively are shown as well as the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

Twenty Pounds

The twenty pound note has a portrait of

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th century in literature, 20th-century literature. He was ...

, the

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

tist, and mystic together with a representation of the mythological hero Cú Chulainn, based on the motif used by the Abbey Theatre. The background is of a Deirdre, a Yeats manuscript. The reverse is an image of the

Blasket Islands The Blasket Islands () are an uninhabited group of islands off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. The last island to hold a significant population, Great Blasket Island, was abandoned in 1954 due to population decl ...

, off

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

with the background of '' An tOileánach'' by Tomás Ó Criomhthain.

Fifty Pounds

The fifty pound note has a portrait of Turlough O'Carolan, the blind Irish

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

er and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, with the background from Timbrell. The reverse has a design based on the wood carvings on the organ loft of St. Michan's Church, Dublin.

One Hundred Pounds

A Series B hundred pound note was never issued, the Series A £100 note remained in circulation. A design mock up was submitted for the £100 denomination in August 1979. After some years of development, a decision was made to not proceed with production of the note, primarily because it was decided that the denomination was not required. The development of the note proceeded through several proof stages before being cancelled in early 1987. During the late 1970s some newspapers reported that a planned £100 note would be mauve and would have

Grace O'Malley Gráinne O'Malley (, ; – ), also known as Grace O'Malley, was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. Upon her father's death, she took over active leadership of the lords ...

on the front, and the Galtee Mountains, or a map of Ireland on the reverse, and the dimensions of the notes in size would be 188 x 98 mm. Detailed information about the design of the note became available with the opening of Central Bank of Ireland Archives to the public in 2017. The face of the banknote design features a portrait of Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen, with one of her ships looming large in the centre and a second ship in the distance. The predominant colours are red for the portrait and mauve for the ship and background elements. The reverse of the banknote design is predominantly beige. It features a genealogical map of Ireland, based on the 1567 map of "Hibernia: Insula non procul ab Anglia vulgare Hirlandia vocata" by John Goghe.Central Bank of Ireland Archives, Dublin. Accessed 24 May 2018.

References

Series B (1976/82 - 1989/93) Irish Writers, Philosophers and Artists banknotes
{{Irish currency and coinage Ireland B Currencies of the Republic of Ireland