One million €2 coins to commemorate the centenary of the meeting of the First Dáil

• Special €2 coin to be issued in January, with one million to go into circulation for 2019
• Special €100 gold commemorative coin also being issued and will be available to buy on collectorcoins.ie
• Coins to be officially launched Governor Philip. R Lane at the Mansion House on 16 January

The Central Bank of Ireland will mint one million €2 coins, for general circulation in 2019, to commemorate the centenary of the meeting of the First Dáil in the Mansion House on 21 January 1919.

Governor Philip R. Lane will launch this special €2 coin at the Mansion House on 16 January.

The Central Bank will also issue a special €100 gold coin to commemorate the meeting of the First Dáil, which will have an issue limit of 1,000, and which will be available to buy on collectorcoins.ie in the coming weeks. An annual mint set and proof set containing the commemorative €2 coin will also be issued later in the year.

Emmet Mullins designed both coins which contain the words ‘An Chéad Dáil’ (The First Dáil), surrounded by images of the first TDs in attendance at the landmark meeting. It was the first meeting of the Sinn Féin MPs who had been elected to the House of Commons on a platform of abstentionism, and, whom instead of taking their seats in Westminster, chose to set up a new parliament in Dublin.

Paul Molumby, Director of Currency & Facilities Management said:

“The Central Bank is delighted to be launching both a circulating €2 coin and a commemorative €100 gold coin to celebrate the centenary of the meeting of the First Dáil. The meeting of the First Dáil in the Mansion House was a landmark moment on the road to the establishment of the Irish state, and it is quite fitting that we should honour that moment in this way one hundred years on.

People all over Ireland, and indeed, all over Europe, should keep an eye out for this special €2 coin which will be going into general circulation shortly.”

This is only the second time that the Central Bank of Ireland has issued a special circulating euro coin. In 2016, the Central Bank issued 4.5 million special €2 coins to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising. The Central Bank also issued a €100 gold coin to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, which sold out in less than 24 hours.