Pre-1987 Mark Codes
The first codes were allocated in 1903 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 independence, while Londonderry City is nowadays more usually correctly known as Derry City.
Counties and county boroughs in italics are in Northern Ireland and hence 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 (Ix) | County or city | code(xI) | County or city | code (Zx) | County or city |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | IA | Antrim | AI | Meath | ZA | Dublin City |
| B | IB | Armagh | BI | Monaghan | ZB | Cork County |
| C | IC | Carlow | CI | Laois (formerly 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 | ZO | Dublin City & County |
| P | IP | Kilkenny | PI | Cork City | ZP | Donegal |
| R | IR | Offaly (formerly 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 & County |
| W | IW | Derry | 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 (from 2004) | GI | Tipperary South Riding (from 1985) | ZG | Dublin City & County (from 1983) |
| S | IS | Mayo (from 1983) | SI | Dublin City & County (from 1982) | ZS | Dublin City & County (from 1984) |
| V | IV | Limerick (from 1982) | ZV | Dublin City & County (from 1985) / vehicles >30 years old |
Read more about this topic: Vehicle Registration Plates Of Ireland
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—Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
“We must trust infinitely to the beneficent necessity which shines through all laws. Human nature expresses itself in them as characteristically as in statues, or songs, or railroads, and an abstract of the codes of nations would be an abstract of the common conscience.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)