The Irish Free State, subsequently known as Ireland, resolved in the mid-1920s to design its own coins and banknotes.
The commission was chaired by Professor Henry Parker Willis[2] of Columbia University who was Director of Research of the Federal Reserve Board in the United States.
The commission's terms of reference were: "To consider and to report to the Minister for Finance what changes, if any, in the law relative to banking and note issue are necessary or desirable, regard being had to the altered circumstances arising from the establishment of Saorstát Éireann.
"The commission's report of January 1927 recommended creating a currency for the state that would be directly backed and fixed to the pound sterling in the United Kingdom on a one-for-one basis.
The majority report of August 1938 recommended creating a central bank with enhanced powers and functions.
[3] The theme on the reverse of the notes is the rivers of Ireland, which are depicted as heads taken from the Custom House, Dublin.
To avoid potential factional and sectarian issues with the notes only uncontroversial political figures were chosen.
As with all eurozone countries, Ireland continued to mint its own banknotes after the currency changeover to the euro.
Irish pound banknotes ceased to be legal tender on 9 February 2002,[7] although they are intended to be exchangeable indefinitely for euro at the Central Bank.
The Irish cash changeover was one of the fastest in the eurozone, with some shops[citation needed] illegally[7] ceasing to accept pounds after the first week or two.
56%, by value, of Irish banknotes were withdrawn from circulation within two weeks of the introduction of euro and 83.4% by the time they ceased to have legal tender status.
Central banks in the Eurozone provide banknotes of one denomination each year, according to demand and a rotating allocation (determined by the ECB).
Before the introduction of the euro in 2002, national banks produced several lower denominations to build stockpiles.
Any notes printed by the Central Bank of Ireland have the prefix "K" before the series code in a small star on the front of the banknote.
If spent (by people from other Eurozone member states), they are unlikely to be passed to other consumers and will find their way back to the banks (which only dispense notes up to €100).