The notes were commissioned by the then-
Central Bank of Ireland in five denominations. The Central Bank held a limited competition in 1991 and invited nine Irish artists, having decided on the theme previous to invitation. The designs of
Robert Ballagh were chosen, and his designs were used in all the denominations to follow a unified design pattern. The theme for this series was people who contributed to the formation of a modern Ireland, and to this effect it includes political figures, literary and religious figures. These notes incorporated a number of sophisticated features for security, and for the partially sighted and blind; such features had not previously seen on banknotes in Ireland.
Five Pounds The front of the note features
Catherine McAuley, who founded the
Sisters of Mercy; the background features the
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Dublin, which was founded by the Sisters of Mercy. The back of the note features three children in a classroom. The first verse of the
Irish poem
Mise Raifteirí an File by the
blind poet
Antoine Ó Raifteiri is presented on the blackboard in Gaelic script. A map of Europe, without political boundaries, is at the back.
Ten Pounds The front of the note features
James Joyce; the background features Counties Dublin and Wicklow, particularly
Dublin Bay. The back of the note features one of the heads on
The Custom House, Dublin by
Edward Smyth. The head is one of fourteen and believed to represent the
River Liffey. A nineteenth-century map and part of "
Finnegans Wake" with Joyce's signature also feature.
Twenty Pounds The front of the note features a portrait of 19th-century nationalist leader
Daniel O'Connell, the background features his home at
Derrynane Abbey,
County Kerry. The brick detail in the building is '£20' printed repeatedly. This was an added security feature that was often missed by counterfeiters. The back of the note features a "Repeal the
Act of Union" pledge signed in 1845 by early Irish statesmen, with the
Four Courts in the background.
Fifty Pounds The front of the note features
Douglas Hyde, Irish-language scholar and first
President of Ireland; the background features
Áras an Uachtaráin set against the interior of the base of the
Ardagh Chalice. The back of the note features an
uilleann piper and the seal of
Conradh na Gaeilge. An excerpt from a sixteenth-century manuscript kept by the
Royal Irish Academy also features.
One Hundred Pounds The front of the note features
Charles Stewart Parnell; the background depicts a view of his residence
Avondale House of
Rathdrum, County Wicklow. A hound also features. The back of the note features part of the Parnell Monument,
O'Connell Street, Dublin. The signature of Parnell is the one which he used in response to the Home Rule Bill. ==References==