Series B banknotes

[2] During much of the period of circulation of this series, foreign exchange controls prohibited the export of any notes larger than £20 from the Republic.

The reverse features an adaptation of animal and script extracts from the Book of Kells, an eighth century copy of the gospels.

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 twenty pound note has a portrait of William Butler Yeats, the poet, dramatist, and mystic together with a representation of the mythological hero Cú Chulainn, based on the motif used by the Abbey Theatre.

The reverse is an image of the Blasket Islands, off County Kerry with the background of An tOileánach by Tomás Ó Criomhthain.

The fifty pound note has a portrait of Turlough O'Carolan, the blind Irish harper and composer, with the background from Timbrell.

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.