Can you explain Irish reg numbers?

Can you explain Irish reg numbers?

Dear Team, I'm new to Ireland, currently looking for a car but there is something I don't get about how the cars are labeled in the ads, which is the (1x1) number... May I ask what's 141,151,181 and so on? Thanks a lot!

Our answer:

Hi Karim,

From 1987 until 2012, the Irish registration plate format was very simple, as the first two digits represented the year - e.g. 87 for 1987 or 12 for 2012.

Then, for 2013 on the system was tweaked so that the prefix changed twice per year. The first change, as before, is on 1 January, so for cars registered for the first six months of 2013, the prefix is 131. Then, for cars registered from 1 July 2013 to the end of the year, the prefix is 132. Same for 2018: 181 for the first six months, 182 for the latter half of that year.

Shane O'Donoghue

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