1 Pound Bank of Ireland

The Currency Commission was not itself a bank but a statutory clearing body established under the Currency Act 1927, empowered to issue legal tender through the associated commercial banks — hence notes that carry "Bank of Ireland" on their face while being catalogued as Commission issues. This arrangement, unusual by European standards, reflected the Free State government's deliberate choice to avoid creating a central bank, a decision that held until the Central Bank Act of 1942.

The Gargan-to-Johnston signature transition mid-series marks the death in office of Joseph Gargan, Secretary of the Commission, in late 1938. Notes bearing the Brennan/Johnston pairing are modestly scarcer, particularly the February and July 1939 dates.