The Irish pound was once worth more than the euro

Cultures · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before the euro arrived, the Irish pound held a unique position in Europe. For a brief period, it was the only currency among thirteen nations whose conversion factor was less than one, making the Irish unit more valuable than the single euro unit itself.

The history of Irish currency is a saga of shifting ties to the United Kingdom. While the earliest coinage dates to the late 10th century, the currency's relationship with the English pound was often defined by parity or strategic devaluation. In 1210, King John established parity to facilitate the movement of silver to fund his wars in France. However, by 1460, King Henry VI used parliament at Drogheda to devalue Irish coins, creating a divergence in silver content between the two nations.

Following the creation of the Irish Free State, the 1927 Act introduced a new pound designed to match the weight and fineness of the English sovereign. This effectively pegged the Irish pound to sterling at a 1:1 ratio, a stability that lasted for fifty years. Even after the 1922 independence, the currency maintained a familiar £sd system—using names like punt, scilling, and pingin—and continued to circulate alongside sterling until the 1826 merger and the later 20th-century transitions.

The late 20th century brought radical changes. The Decimal Currency Act of 1969, implemented on 'Decimal Day' (15 February 1971), replaced shillings and pence with a centesimal system. Later, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism broke the long-standing one-for-one link with sterling by March 1979. By the time the conversion factor to the European Currency Unit was fixed on 31 December 1998, the Irish pound stood at 0.787564 per euro. This meant the Irish unit was worth approximately EUR 1.27, making it the only currency in the group worth more than one euro.

The era of the Irish pound ended in the early 2000s. While the euro was officially adopted on 1 January 1999, physical circulation of euro notes and coins did not begin until 2002. The Irish pound ceased to be legal tender on 9 February 2002, though the Central Bank of Ireland allows for the redemption of historical notes and coins for euros.

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