{"id":512,"date":"2022-03-28T13:53:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-28T12:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/?page_id=512"},"modified":"2022-04-25T09:38:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T08:38:33","slug":"archive-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Archive & History"},"content":{"rendered":"

IRISH ROAD VEHICLES SINCE 1896 – A BIT OF HISTORY \u2013<\/p>\n

When mechanically propelled vehicles first appeared at the end of the 19th century, each vehicle had to have a crew of three, including one to walk in front with a red flag. The speed limit was then 4mph.<\/p>\n

In 1896<\/strong> The speed limit was raised to 14mph. Drivers were required to keep to the left when meeting oncoming traffic.<\/p>\n

The first car in Ireland was the Serpollet Steam car, imported from France on 6th March 1896<\/strong>. The car was coke-fired with steel wheels and had a two-cylinder horizontal engine under the drivers seat<\/p>\n

Around July 1903<\/strong> it is estimated that there were less than fifty cars in the whole of Ireland. The first registrations numbers were allocated this year, the \u201cI\u201d standing for Ireland, prefixed each letter of the alphabet for each county\/city in alphabetical order. It then switched around with I for Ireland being prefixed by the alphabet letters beginning again to take up the remaining counties. G, S and V were reserved until the 1980s. Q was never used. In later years the two letters were prefixed with a third letter \u2013 in alphabetical order per year ABI, BBI etc, and later still, the letters changed from prefix to follow the numbering. Eg BI 9999 and 1 BI .<\/p>\n

January 1904<\/strong> a driving licence was granted to any and every applicant without any form of testing, medical or practical.<\/p>\n

From 1907 <\/strong>all vehicles were required to have lights County Councils were made Registration and Licensing Authorities, the vehicle registration fee was 20 shilling and the drivers licence fee was five shillings. The speed limit was raised to 20 mph.<\/p>\n

In 1910<\/strong> all related revenue was allocated exclusively for road improvements<\/p>\n

In 1921<\/strong> the tax was set at \u00a31 a year per unit of horsepower. Tax discs were introduced as proof of payment.<\/p>\n

The current system of registrations began in 1987.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MONAGHAN ARCHIVES \u2013 Licenses and Registrations<\/strong><\/p>\n

PREVIOUS REGISTRATION SYSTEM Monaghan 1903 \u2013 1986<\/strong><\/p>\n

BI 1 to BI 9999 (Dec 1903 \u2013 Mar 1961). ABI 1 to ZBI 999 (Mar 1961 \u2013 Oct 1981).<\/p>\n

1 BI to 6540 BI (Oct 1981 \u2013 Dec 1986).<\/p>\n

The original Records of new registrations prior to 1933 are unavailable.<\/p>\n

Records of the first registration of 1933 issued 2\/1\/1933 show BI 2061 issued to a John Barker (address not provided) which implies that just 2060 vehicles were registered in Monaghan between 1903 and 1932 \u2013 an average of just 69 per year in the 30 years prior.<\/p>\n

The first driver license records recorded in ledgers in the custody of the motor tax office go back to August 9th 1923 recording \u201cserial Numbers of license Cards issued to and returned by Council\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Driver license issue records begin on 4th July 1925. What is strange about these issues is that almost half were issued to addresses outside the county. (See separate reproduction from the ledger) The majority of these went to the surrounding counties of Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone and to Belfast addresses. Some went to England including one to an Edward Moore, 357 Dickinson Rd. Manchester on 22nd July 2025.<\/p>\n

Driver licensing transferred out to a separate licensing body in 2013.<\/p>\n

The first trade plate license 001 BI is recorded as issued to HS Given on 17\/12\/48<\/p>\n

Co Monaghan vehicle registrations since before the 2nd world war up to 1982 – nearly 50 yrs. of REGISTRATION HISTORY.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
YEAR <\/strong><\/td>\nLast Reg. No. of the Year<\/strong><\/td>\nNo. Of Registrations<\/strong><\/td>\n% Change<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1933<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 2169<\/td>\nEstimated\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0102<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1934<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 2280<\/td>\n111<\/td>\n9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1935<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 2408<\/td>\n128<\/td>\n15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1936<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 2604<\/td>\n196<\/td>\n53%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1937<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 2804<\/td>\n200<\/td>\n2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1938<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 2958<\/td>\n154<\/td>\n-23%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1939<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3092<\/td>\n134<\/td>\n-13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1940<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3176<\/td>\n84<\/td>\n-37%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1941<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3220<\/td>\n44<\/td>\n-48%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1942<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3224<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n-91%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1943<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3233<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n125%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1944<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3243<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n11%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1945<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3282<\/td>\n39<\/td>\n290%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1946<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3415<\/td>\n133<\/td>\n241%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1947<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 3758<\/td>\n343<\/td>\n158%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1948<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 4336<\/td>\n578<\/td>\n69%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1949<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 4785<\/td>\n449<\/td>\n-22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1950<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 5219<\/td>\n434<\/td>\n-3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1951<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 5596<\/td>\n377<\/td>\n-13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1952<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 5975<\/td>\n379<\/td>\n1%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1953<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 6366<\/td>\n391<\/td>\n3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1954<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 6882<\/td>\n516<\/td>\n32%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1955<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 7565<\/td>\n683<\/td>\n32%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1956<\/strong><\/td>\nBI 7981<\/td>\n416<\/td>\n-39%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1957<\/strong><\/td>\nN \/ A<\/td>\nEstimated \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0302<\/td>\n-28%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1958<\/strong><\/td>\nN \/ A<\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0343<\/td>\n14%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1959<\/strong><\/td>\nN \/ A<\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0383<\/td>\n11%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1960<\/strong><\/td>\nN \/ A<\/td>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0524<\/td>\n37%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1961<\/strong><\/td>\nABI 479<\/td>\n2081<\/td>\n297%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1962<\/strong><\/td>\nBBI 179<\/td>\n699<\/td>\n-66%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1963<\/strong><\/td>\nBBI 891<\/td>\n711<\/td>\n2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1964<\/strong><\/td>\nCBI 695<\/td>\n803<\/td>\n13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1965<\/strong><\/td>\nDBI 517<\/td>\n821<\/td>\n2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1966<\/strong><\/td>\nEBI 294<\/td>\n776<\/td>\n-5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1967<\/strong><\/td>\nFBI 115<\/td>\n820<\/td>\n6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1968<\/strong><\/td>\nGBI 57<\/td>\n941<\/td>\n15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1969<\/strong><\/td>\nHBI 35<\/td>\n977<\/td>\n4%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1970<\/strong><\/td>\nIBI 66<\/td>\n1030<\/td>\n5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1971<\/strong><\/td>\nIBI 929<\/td>\n933<\/td>\n-9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1972<\/strong><\/td>\nKBI 84<\/td>\n1153<\/td>\n24%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1973<\/strong><\/td>\nLBI 748<\/td>\n1663<\/td>\n44%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1974<\/strong><\/td>\nMBI 704<\/td>\n955<\/td>\n-43%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1975<\/strong><\/td>\nNBI 762<\/td>\n1057<\/td>\n11%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1976<\/strong><\/td>\nPBI 768<\/td>\n2004<\/td>\n90%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1977<\/strong><\/td>\nSBI 573<\/td>\n1803<\/td>\n-10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1978<\/strong><\/td>\nUBI 716<\/td>\n2141<\/td>\n19%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1979<\/strong><\/td>\nWBI 568<\/td>\n1850<\/td>\n-14%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1980<\/strong><\/td>\nYBI 315<\/td>\n1745<\/td>\n-6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1981<\/strong><\/td>\n147 BI<\/td>\n1830<\/td>\n5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1982<\/strong><\/td>\n1536 BI<\/td>\n1388<\/td>\n-24%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The 4 vehicles issued in 1942 were as follows;<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ford 8 \u2013 D Patton local Merchant<\/li>\n
  2. Dodge \u2013 Ditto<\/li>\n
  3. Ford 10 \u2013 Clones resident<\/li>\n
  4. Austin 10 \u2013 Doctor Maguirre, Clones.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The 9 vehicles registered in 1943:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Tractors (4 Fordsons, 1 Ferguson & 1 Dodge (1 Fordson to lough Egish Co-Op)<\/li>\n
    2. Ford 8Doctor Carragher, Corduff.<\/li>\n
    3. Ford 10Doctor Killen, Monaghan<\/li>\n
    4. Ford 8Rev Dickson Newbliss<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Of the 10 vehicles registered in 1944:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/strong>8 were tractors and of the two cars 1 was registered to Dr Leonard, Emyvale & 2nd<\/sup> to A Dale Newbliss<\/p>\n

      The change the an additional letter on the BI registrations was made on the 1\/4\/1961 that car being a VW saloon in the name of Dr PJ Deery of Latlurcan Monaghan<\/p>\n

      The reversion back to BI with the numerals preceding the lettering this time occurred on 20\/10\/1981 this described simply as a Ford sold in the name of M Hughes Dawson Street.<\/p>\n

      We have however been presented with details of the first 64 issues in the attachment \u201cFirst registrations Monaghan\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

      \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      IRISH ROAD VEHICLES SINCE 1896 – A BIT OF HISTORY \u2013 When mechanically propelled vehicles first appeared at the end of the 19th century, each vehicle had to have a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-512","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nArchive & History - Motor Tax<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archive & History - Motor Tax\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IRISH ROAD VEHICLES SINCE 1896 – A BIT OF HISTORY \u2013 When mechanically propelled vehicles first appeared at the end of the 19th century, each vehicle had to have a […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Motor Tax\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-25T08:38:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1-300x300.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/\",\"name\":\"Archive & History - Motor Tax\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1-300x300.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-28T12:53:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-25T08:38:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Archive & History\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/\",\"name\":\"Motor Tax\",\"description\":\"Monaghan County Council\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Archive & History - Motor Tax","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Archive & History - Motor Tax","og_description":"IRISH ROAD VEHICLES SINCE 1896 – A BIT OF HISTORY \u2013 When mechanically propelled vehicles first appeared at the end of the 19th century, each vehicle had to have a […]","og_url":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/","og_site_name":"Motor Tax","article_modified_time":"2022-04-25T08:38:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1-300x300.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/","url":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/","name":"Archive & History - Motor Tax","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1-300x300.png","datePublished":"2022-03-28T12:53:23+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-25T08:38:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2022\/04\/Untitled-design-1.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/archive-history\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Archive & History"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/#website","url":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/","name":"Motor Tax","description":"Monaghan County Council","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":551,"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/512\/revisions\/551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monaghan.ie\/motortax\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}