Ireland license plates

Format, region codes and a plate generator for Ireland.

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Custom text: real plates never carry this combination.

This image is not a license plate: it must not be fitted to a vehicle and does not mean the combination is available.

Plate types

How to read the plate

EU band

The blue band with the EU flag and the country code IRL.

Region code

Part of the number that shows the region.

Series and number

Letters and digits — the registration itself.

County

The first characters are the code of the county where the car is registered: The county where the car is registered is shown separately on the plate:

An Irish plate reads like 201-D-9024: the registration year, then a one- or two-letter county code and a sequence number of up to six digits. Since 2013 the year has three digits, the third marking the half-year (1 for January–June, 2 for July–December). The county name in Irish must appear above the number, e.g. BAILE ÁTHA CLIATH for Dublin. The code reflects the place of first registration in Ireland and does not change when the owner moves. On the left is the blue EU band with IRL.

Region map

Click a region to see its codes.

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Region codes

26 regions

Region	Code
County Cork	C
County Clare	CE
County Cavan	CN
County Carlow	CW
County Dublin	D
County Donegal	DL
County Galway	G
County Kildare	KE
County Kilkenny	KK
County Kerry	KY
County LimerickThe council was abolished in a 2014 merger; the code is no longer issued and the county's common code is used instead.	L LK
County Longford	LD
County Louth	LH
County Leitrim	LM
County Laois	LS
County Meath	MH
County Monaghan	MN
County Mayo	MO
County Offaly	OY
County Roscommon	RN
County Sligo	SO
County TipperaryThe council was abolished in a 2014 merger; the code is no longer issued and the county's common code is used instead.	T TN TS
County WaterfordThe council was abolished in a 2014 merger; the code is no longer issued and the county's common code is used instead.	W WD
County Westmeath	WH
County Wicklow	WW
County Wexford	WX

History

The current format dates from 1987; until 2013 the year had two digits. Before 1987 two- and three-letter codes containing I or Z were used (ZI, ZV, IK for Dublin), shared with Northern Ireland until 1922. In 2014, after council mergers, the codes LK, TN, TS and WD gave way to the common L (Limerick), T (Tipperary) and W (Waterford); previously L and W had meant the cities only.