Limerick city was TI
IU for the county
And then IV wasn’t it for the county? We had a JIV Corolla.
True. IV repalced IU for a spell in the 80s when the IU codes had been used up.
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How did they come up with the lettering for the counties do you know?
No idea. An internet root around doesn’t throw up any definitive answers either.
Vintage & Archive - Motor Tax
The first registrations numbers were allocated in 1903, the “I” standing for Ireland prefixed each letter of the alphabet as designated initially to each county/city in alphabetical order. It then switched to take up the remaining designated letters. G, S and V were reserved until the 1980s. Q was never used. In later years as required, the two letters were prefixed with a third letter – in alphabetical order by county eg ABI, BBI etc, and later still, the letters reverted from prefix to follow the numbers. Eg BI 9999 and 6540BI. The current system of registrations began in 1987.
Monaghan – history: BI
BI 1 to BI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Mar 1961).
ABI 1 to ZBI 999 (Mar 1961 – Oct 1981).
1 BI to 6540 BI (Oct 1981 – Dec 1986).
All Old Irish County Reg abbreviations
| A | IA | Antrim | AI | Meath | ZA | Dublin City |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B | IB | Armagh | BI | Monaghan | ZB | Cork County |
| C | IC | Carlow | CI | Laois (formerly Queen’s County) | ZC | Dublin City |
| D | ID | Cavan | DI | Roscommon | ZD | Dublin City |
| E | IE | Clare | EI | Sligo | ZE | Dublin County |
| F | IF | Cork County | FI | Tipperary North Riding | ZF | Cork City |
| H | IH | Donegal | HI | Tipperary South Riding | ZH | Dublin City |
| J | IJ | Down | JI | Tyrone | ZJ | Dublin City |
| K | IK | Dublin County | KI | Waterford County | ZK | Cork County |
| L | IL | Fermanagh | LI | Westmeath | ZL | Dublin City |
| M | IM | Galway | MI | Wexford | ZM | Galway County |
| N | IN | Kerry | NI | Wicklow | ZN | Meath |
| O | IO | Kildare | OI | Belfast | ZO | Dublin City and County |
| P | IP | Kilkenny | PI | Cork City | ZP | Donegal |
| R | IR | Offaly (formerly King’s County) | RI | Dublin City | ZR | Wexford |
| T | IT | Leitrim | TI | Limerick City | ZT | Cork County |
| U | IU | Limerick County | UI | Derry | ZU | Dublin City and County |
| W | IW | County Londonderry | WI | Waterford City | ZW | Kildare |
| X | IX | Longford | XI | Belfast City | ZX | Kerry |
| Y | IY | Louth | YI | Dublin City | ZY | Louth |
| Z | IZ | Mayo | ZI | Dublin City | ZZ | Temporary registrations |
| Z | Dublin County | |||||
| G | IG | Fermanagh (from 2004) | GI | Tipperary South Riding (from 1985) | ZG | Dublin City and County (from 1983) |
| S | IS | Mayo (from 1983) | SI | Dublin City and County (from 1982) | ZS | Dublin City and County (from 1984) |
| V | IV | Limerick (from 1982) | VI | ZV | Dublin City and County (from 1985) / vehicles >30 years old |
Series history per county 1903–1986
Carlow CC: IC
IC 1 to IC 99991 (Dec 1903 – Apr 1964).
AIC 1 to YIC 994 (Apr 1964 – Dec 1986).
1 A duplicate series of IC for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.
Cavan CC: ID
ID 1 to ID 9999 (Jan 1904 – Jul 1958).
AID 1 to ZID 999 (Jul 1958 – Dec 1976).
1 ID to 9999 ID (Dec 1976 – Feb 1981).
1 AID to 906 IID (Feb 1981 – Dec 1986).
Clare CC: IE
IE 1 to IE 99992 (Jan 1904 – Mar 1959).
AIE 1 to ZIE 999 (Mar 1959 – Nov 1974).
1 IE to 9999 IE (Nov 1974 – Sep 1978).
1 AIE to 107 XIE (Sep 1978 – Dec 1986).
2 A duplicate series of IE for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.
Cork CC: (in original issuing sequence) IF ZB ZK ZT
IF 1 to IF 9999 (Dec 1903 – Apr 1935);
ZB 1 to ZB 9999 (Apr 1935 – Apr 1949);
ZK 1 to ZK 9999 (Apr 1949 – May 1953);
ZT 1 to ZT 9999 (May 1953 – Dec 1955).
AIF 1 to ZIF 999 (Dec 1955 – Apr 1962);
AZB 1 to YZB 999 (Apr 1962 – Aug 1966);
AZK 1 to YZK 999 (Aug 1966 – Aug 1970);
AZT 1 to YZT 999 (Aug 1970 – Nov 1973).
1 IF to 9999 IF (Nov 1973 – May 1975);
1 ZB to 9999 ZB (May 1975 – Jul 1976);
1 ZK to 9999 ZK (Jul 1976 – Aug 1977);
1 ZT to 9999 ZT (Aug 1977 – Jun 1978).
1 AIF to 999 ZIF (Jun 1978 – Sep 1980);
1 AZB to 999 YZB (Sep 1980 – Jun 1983);
1 AZK to 999 PZK (Jun 1983 – Aug 1985);
1 RZK to 999 YZK (Aug 1985 – May 1986).
In June 1974 Cork County Council and Cork County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority, administered by the County Council. However, separate registers continued in use for the County and the County Borough until the expiry of reverse ZPI in August 1985. See below for the sequences issued covering both areas. Marks in italics are after the merger.
Cork City: (in original issuing sequence) PI ZF
PI 1 to PI 9999 (Dec 1903 – Aug 1946);
ZF 1 to ZF 9999 (Aug 1946 – Dec 1958).
API 1 to ZPI 999 (Dec 1958 – Feb 1970);
AZF 1 to YZF 999 (Feb 1970 – Mar 1976).
1 PI to 9999 PI (Mar 1976 – Jun 1978);
1 ZF to 9999 ZF (Jun 1978 – Feb 1980).
1 API to 999 ZPI (Feb 1980 – Aug 1985).
In June 1974 Cork County Council and Cork County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority, administered by the County Council. However, separate registers continued in use for the County and the County Borough until the expiry of reverse ZPI in August 1985. See below for the sequences issued covering both areas.
Cork County and County Borough Joint Office: (in issuing sequence) reverse RZK-YZK, reverse AZF-FZF
1 RZK to 999 YZK (Aug 1985 – May 1986);
1 AZF to 542 FZF (May 1986 – Dec 1986).
Donegal CC: (in original issuing sequence) IH ZP
IH 1 to IH 99993 (Dec 1903 – Jan 1952);
ZP 1 to ZP 9999 (Jan 1952 – Nov 1961).
AIH 1 to ZIH 999 (Nov 1961 – Apr 1976);
AZP 1 to ZZP 4074 (Apr 1976 – Feb 1982).
408 IH to 9999 IH (Feb 1982 – Apr 1985);
1 ZP to 4853 ZP (Apr 1985 – Dec 1986).
3 A duplicate series of IH for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.
4 ZZP was not authorised by SR&O (Statutory Rules & Orders) and was issued in error – no retrospective SR&O was issued to legitimise its issue. When the error was discovered ZZP was terminated at 407; in consequence the next series (reverse IH) commenced at 408.
Dublin CC (until 1952): (in original issuing sequence) IK Z ZE
IK 1 to IK 99995 (Dec 1903 – Mar 1927);
Z 1 to Z 9999 (Mar 1927 – Sep 1938);
ZE 1 to ZE 9999 (Sep 1938 – Feb 1952).
5 A duplicate series of IK for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.
In February 1952 Dublin County Council and Dublin County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority. The joint office was administered by Dublin County Borough Council. See below for subsequent issues.
Dublin City (until 1952): (in original issuing sequence) RI YI ZI ZA ZC ZD ZH ZJ ZL
RI 1 to RI 99996 (Dec 1903 – Apr 1921);
YI 1 to YI 9999 (Apr 1921 – Mar 1927);
ZI 1 to ZI 9999 (Mar 1927 – May 1933);
ZA 1 to ZA 9999 (May 1933 – Mar 1937);
ZC 1 to ZC 9999 (Mar 1937 – Jan 1940);
ZD 1 to ZD 9999 (Jan 1940 – Jan 1947);
ZH 1 to ZH 9999 (Jan 1947 – Jan 1949);
ZJ 1 to ZJ 9999 (Jan 1949 – Jul 1950);
ZL 1 to ZL 9999 (Jul 1950 – Feb 1952).
6 A duplicate series up to RI 3000 for cars and motorcycles existed prior to 1921.
In February 1952 Dublin County Council and Dublin County Borough Council set up a joint motor taxation authority. The joint office was administered by Dublin County Borough Council. See below for subsequent issues.
Dublin County and County Borough Joint Office (from February 1952): (in original issuing sequence) forward 2-letter sequences of ZO ZU; then forward 3-letter combinations of RI IK YI ZA ZC ZD ZE ZH ZI ZJ ZL ZO ZU; then reverse 2-letter sequences of RI IK YI Z ZA ZC ZD ZE ZH ZI ZJ ZL ZO ZU; then reverse 3-letter combinations of RI IK YI ZA ZC ZD ZE ZH ZI ZJ ZL ZO ZU; then forward 3-letter combinations of SI ZG ZS ZV; then reverse 2-letter sequences of SI ZG ZS.
ZO 1 to ZO 9999 (Feb 1952 – May 1953);
ZU 1 to ZU 9999 (May 1953 – May 1954).
ARI 1 to YRI 9997 (May 1954 – Sep 1955);
AIK 1 to ZIK 9998 (Sep 1955 – Nov 1957);
AYI 1 to YYI 9999 (Nov 1957 – Oct 1959);
AZA 1 to YZA 999 (Oct 1959 – Jan 1961);
AZC 1 to YZC 999 (Jan 1961 – Apr 1962);
AZD 1 to YZD 999 (Apr 1962 – May 1963);
AZE 1 to YZE 999 (May 1963 – Jun 1964);
AZH 1 to YZH 999 (Jun 1964 – May 1965);
AZI 1 to YZI 999 (May 1965 – Jun 1966);
AZJ 1 to YZJ 999 (Jun 1966 – Jun 1967);
AZL 1 to YZL 999 (Jun 1967 – May 1968);
AZO 1 to YZO 999 (May 1968 – Mar 1969);
AZU 1 to YZU 999 (Mar 1969 – Feb 1970).
1 RI to 9999 RI (Feb – May 1970);
1 IK to 9999 IK (May – Sep 1970);
1 YI to 9999 YI (Sep 1970 – Feb 1971);
1 Z to 9999 Z (Feb – Jun 1971);
1 ZA to 9999 ZA (Jun – Oct 1971);
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My auld lad used to know this off by heart. He hitched lifts all around the country out of Dublin and Cork and he always maintained knowing the reg’s and the counties was the most important thing to be on the lookout for.
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Outstanding 
Did he have any observation on which counties were more likely to give a hitchhiker a lift?
The auld boy had a Datsun Sunny estate for years, 977 FIP, 1981 I think he got her. Bucket of shite but it’s the car I learned to drive in.
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160 XIM for me.
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211 BIM
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In those days you’d have more people stopping than not stopping. People who had cars seemed to take pride in picking lads up who didn’t and helping them out. How life has changed…
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Things really slowed up around the mid 80s. It was no bother get a lift before then. I’d thumb going to and from college. In the end I got a sign. I think it helped a bit. You’d meet some characters. Even women would pick you up back then.
Got a lift off a farmer around Callan one morning. He only stopped so that I could give him a hand loading some cattle about a mile down the road.
Used even thumb out of Limerick City after a few pints when I started working in Raheen first. No bother getting a lift on O’Connell avenue. One of the hardest places to get a lift was on the Parade in Kilkenny. Disaster of a place.
Finally got a car late 80s. Was going into work one evening and stopped at the lights at the Union Cross. An auld one opened the door and sat in. “Take me home like a good lad”, and she wasn’t getting out. My first time in Southhill. I was all flustered running in late for work, and as luck would have it I met the boss in the corridor. Sure he was struggling to keep a straight face.
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I thumbed regularly, as in daily, up until about 2003 when I left the country. My ma told.me when I was about 15, after asking her for a lift, ‘youre big enough and old enough to hitch’ so off I went.
Some days tougher than others to get a lift. Had some great experiences from back of hi-ace with a load of travellers to a lovely old dear who used time her run from Shannon to town to give me a lift!
Think I said it before but got a lift off an older guy one day who said he’d never stop for a woman again. Was heading out old Dublin road past parkway and picked up a girl going to Nenagh. Just as they got to outskirts of nenagh, she started shrieking and screaming. Your man rattled asks ‘what the fuck is wrong?’. She says ‘if you don’t give me every penny in your wallet, I’m going to the guards and will say you tried to rape me’.
Your man said he’d the clarity of mind to drive straight to the guards with her in the car. Turns out she been caught doing similar previously. Guy said gave him an awful fright. You’d wonder how many shovelled money at her and just threw her out of the car
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My aul lad would pick up hitchhikers fairly regularly if just me and him going to Galway.
It was fairly evolved. Lad on side of road with a sign of where he was going.
If we were on a short trip the aul lad would point his right index finger towards the ditch to let the hitchhiker know we were only going up the road and weren’t snubbing him.
This was a common enough one in the country back in the day.
Fella might give a female neighhbour a lift home and she would look for money on the promise of telling his wife that he tried it on.
There was a few things that happened that finished hitching. First hitch hikers started suing drivers for personal injuries where there was a minor tip. Second the JoJo Dullard disappearance took all female hitchhikers off the road overnight. Third the likes of Kavanaghs came in with cheap bus fares. My memory was that it was 30 pounds to get the train. Kavanaghs was 10 pounds. It wasn’t worth most people’s while traipsing out to Newlands Cross for the sake of a tenner whereas it was for 30 quid. Fourth the advent of the advent of the new N7 and M50 made hitching impossible/lethal. Fifth was the Rutger Hauer movie the Hitcher.
I used to work in Kilkenny before I had a car and I used to walk out to the Waterford road every night to hitch a lift home. Most nights I’d get a lift. If I didn’t I’d walk back to McDonagh junction and get the 7 o clock train home.
The last time I picked up a hitcher was about 10 years ago. Some poor owl divil in the pouring rain at Leighlin going into mass in the Cathedral in Carlow of a Sunday morning.
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Lot more people have cars now too, which is probably the biggest thing
True that.