5 Pounds National Bank

The Currency Commission was itself an unusual institution — not a central bank but a statutory body established under the Currency Act of 1927, tasked with managing Ireland's new currency while maintaining a rigid one-for-one parity with sterling. The "Consolidated Banknote" series, of which this is a part, replaced the notes of eight separate Irish banks simultaneously, an administrative feat with no real precedent in post-independence currency transitions.

De La Rue's engraved printing held up well under circulation, but the series as a whole was superseded when the Central Bank of Ireland Act 1942 wound down the Commission's note-issuing role. Higher denominations like this one saw less daily handling and consequently survive in better average condition than the smaller values.