Coins of Ireland

Following the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 the Hiberno-Norse coinage ceased following this pattern and reverted to one of its earlier designs—the so-called 'long cross' type.

Edward VI issued the first Irish shillings following debasement of the coinage during the reign of Henry VIII.

Prior to the reign of King Henry VIII (1509–47), the Irish coinage carried the title 'Dominus Hiberniae' (or Lord of Ireland).

As there was a shortage of metal for coinage, church bells and possibly old cannon were melted down, thus giving rise to the name Gun money or Gunmoney.

These coins were declared illegal tender after King William III's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690.

William Wood was authorised in 1722 to produce up to 360 tons of halfpence and farthings for Ireland at 30 pence to the pound over a period of fourteen years for an annual fee of £800 paid to the king.

These coins were unpopular in Ireland, largely due to Jonathan Swift's polemical Drapier's Letters, and Wood lost his patent though compensated with a pension.

After the end of the English Civil War, copper farthings and halfpennies resumed production, and pennies were added in 1805.

The British one pound coin has featured varying designs to represent England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the UK as a whole.

[1] These coins are not unique to Northern Ireland and circulate through the entire United Kingdom and other sterling area countries.