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# Play the Irish license plate game as you drive around Ireland
- URL: https://www.irelandbylocals.com/irish-license-plates-explained/
- Published: 2026-09-04T20:01:40.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-04T20:01:40.000Z
- Author: Ireland by Locals
- Tags: Car Rental, Local Observations

On my [Dublin walking tours](https://www.irelandbylocals.com/tag/walking-tour/), the thing that people are so amazed by is not how Ireland got independence or any of my hilarious stories. 

No, it's when I explain how Irish license plates work 😄

Let's take the license plate in the photo. 

### **16 2 D 15185**

First is the European Union flag 🇪🇺 and IRL for Ireland. 

**16** is the year the car was bought. So it's a 2016 car. The registration plate stays with the car for life, it's doesn't change with owner, so you can tell how old the car is. 

**2** means it was registered Jul-Dec. If it was registered in Jan-Jun, it would be a 1\. 

**D** means it's a Dublin car. It would be C for Cork. L for Limerick etc. 

**Baile Átha Cliath** above the numbersis the Irish for Dublin. It will be Corcaigh for Cork. 

**15185** means it was the 15185th car registered between Jul-Dec in Dublin.

You can tell which counties are big or small by these registration numbers. Dublin ones get to around 45000\. While Leitrim registration numbers might not even get to 1000 because of its low population.

I don't know of any other country that has such a systematic license plate as us. 

Now you know! 

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## Play the Irish license plate game

How many county plates can spot as you drive around Ireland? Here's the full list of counties and their abbreviations. 

- **C** – Cork
- **CE** – Clare
- **CN** – Cavan
- **CW** – Carlow
- **D** – Dublin
- **DL** – Donegal
- **G** – Galway
- **KE** – Kildare
- **KK** – Kilkenny
- **KY** – Kerry
- **L** – Limerick
- **LD** – Longford
- **LH** – Louth
- **LM** – Leitrim
- **LS** – Laois
- **MH** – Meath
- **MN** – Monaghan
- **MO** – Mayo
- **OY** – Offaly
- **RN** – Roscommon
- **SO** – Sligo
- **T** – Tipperary
- **W** – Waterford
- **WH** – Westmeath
- **WX** – Wexford
- **WW** – Wicklow

👀

This is part of my Observations Series. 2-minute snippets of inspiration from around Ireland. [Read more of them here.](https://www.irelandbylocals.com/tag/quick-tips/)