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 The Central Bank of Ireland () is the national central bank for Ireland within the Eurosystem. It was the Irish central bank from 1943 to 1998, issuing the Irish pound. It is also the country's main financial regulatory authority, and since 2 ...

, 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 The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 34,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of ''Homo sapiens'' to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Qua ...

, 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 Hazel Lavery, Lady Lavery (née Martyn; 1880–1935) was an American painter and the second wife of portrait artist Sir John Lavery. Famed for her beauty, Lavery's likeness appeared on banknotes of Ireland for much of the 20th century.Sinead Mc ...

painted by

Sir John Lavery Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was an Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions. Life and career John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, on 20 March 1856 and baptised at St Patrick's Church, ...

was retained from

Series A A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...

; 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 Foreign exchange controls are various forms of controls imposed by a government on the purchase/sale of foreign currencies by residents, on the purchase/sale of local currency by nonresidents, or the transfers of any currency across national b ...

prohibited the export of any notes larger than £20 from the Republic.

One Pound

The one pound note has a portrait of

Medb Medb (), later spelled Meadhbh (), Méabh(a) () and Méibh (), and often anglicised as Maeve ( ), is queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Her husband in the core stories of the cycle is Ailill mac Máta, although she had ...

, 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 (, LU) or the Book of the Dun Cow (MS 23 E 25) is an Irish vellum manuscript dating to the 12th century. It is the oldest extant manuscript in Irish. It is held in the Royal Irish Academy and is badly damaged: only 67 leaves remain and many ...

, 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 The one pound (£1) () coin, worth one Irish pound, was used in Ireland from 20 June 1990 until the formal adoption of euro currency in 2002. The last issue was minted in 2000. The coin was the largest Irish coin since decimalisation: its diamete ...

. 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 John Scotus Eriugena, also known as Johannes Scotus Erigena, John the Scot or John the Irish-born ( – c. 877), was an Irish Neoplatonist philosopher, theologian and poet of the Early Middle Ages. Bertrand Russell dubbed him "the most ...

, 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 Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript gospel book dated to that contains the Vulgate Latin text of the four Gospels, with some Irish variations, and other matter, written in Insular script, and richly illustrated in the style of Ins ...

. 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 John Rocque (originally Jean; –1762) was a French-born British surveyor and cartographer, best known for his detailed John Rocque's Map of London, 1746, map of London published in 1746. Life and career Rocque was born in France in about 1704 ...

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 Cú Chulainn ( ), is an Irish warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, who is also his father. His mother is the ...

, based on the motif used by the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

. The background is of a

Deirdre Deirdre ( , ; ) is a tragic heroine in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She is also known by the epithet "Deirdre of the Sorrows" (). Deirdre is a prominent figure in Irish legend. American scholar James MacKillop (author), James MacKil ...

, 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 (; commonly anglicised as Tomás O'Crohan and occasionally as Thomas O'Crohan; 29 April 1855 – 7 March 1937) was a native of the Irish-speaking Great Blasket Island near the coast of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. He wrote two Irish-langu ...

Fifty Pounds

The fifty pound note has a portrait of

Turlough O'Carolan Turlough O'Carolan ( ; 1670 – 25 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition. Although not a composer in the classical sense, Carolan is considered by som ...

, 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 Galtymore or Galteemore () is a mountain in the province of Munster, Ireland. At , it is one of Ireland's highest mountains, being the 12th-highest on the Arderin list, and 14th-highest on the Vandeleur-Lynam list. Galtymore has the 4th-highe ...

, 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