The reverse design featured the death of Cú Chulainn, the mythical Irish hero, who is seen tied to a stone and with a raven on his shoulder.

The figure of Cú Chulainn is a miniature of the statue by Oliver Sheppard, in the General Post Office, Dublin.

The coin was produced for the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising and commenced circulation on 12 April 1966 and was designed by Thomas Humphrey Paget.

The ten shilling is the only Irish coin to feature an inscription on edge until the Irish euro coins, this is "Éirí Amach na Cásca 1916", which translates as "1916 Easter Rising"; the inscription was in Gaelic type on a plain edge.

While it had not been in general circulation in any quantities since 1966, the coin would have survived Decimal Day, being fifty new pence in value.