Ireland stands out in Europe as one of only three places where cars drive on the left side of the road - the other two being the U.K. and Malta. The easiest way to distinguish Ireland from the U.K. is to look at license plates. Ireland has both white rear and front plates whilst the U.K. has yellow rear plates. Ireland also has yellow, dashed, edge lines on their roads, which is rare in the U.K.. Ireland can also be distinguished from the U.K. as the Irish use the metric system, hence road signs showing the nearest towns and speed limits will mention kilometres not miles. Ireland also has different warning and pedestrian signs to the rest of Europe, they are diamond shape and yellow. The Irish landscape is very green and lush with hedges or small rocky walls often lining the streets. Irish roads are often narrow and windy. Irish license plates look like typical European plates- white and elongated with a blue vertical stripe on the left. They do however help distinguish the country from the other major European left side of the road driving country: The U.K., which has yellow rear plates. Uniquely, Irish road signs will typically contain both English and Gaelic. However, the majority of the writing around Ireland such as on shops and buildings is in English. The houses in the rural part of Ireland are generally either white coloured or stone and have dark roofs. Looking at the houses from the road, they tend to be wide but not very deep and are normally one or two storey. Brick is rarely visible in Irish buildings whilst it is quite common in Great Britain. Ireland tends to have longer driveways than Great Britain. Low, rocky walls are a feature of Ireland although these often occur in the UK and on other islands. The Irish landscape is green, lush and often has hedges or small walls alongside the road. Green paddocks are also common. The country has many narrow, windy roads. In general Ireland has a great resemblance to parts of the U.K.. A good method to tell Ireland apart from the U.K. is to look for yellow, dashed edge lines on the road. These are quite common in Ireland but very rare in the U.K.. Approximately one third of Irish utility poles have a yellow, triangular ‘danger’ sticker on them. These stickers can also been seen in the UK however they are rarer there.


Ireland has long, white licence plates with the standard European blue strip on the left.

The white backplate is especially useful to distinguish it from the UK, which uses yellow backplates (but white fronts). In addition, most UK vehicles lack the blue strip on the left.

It is very common to see yellow outside dashes on Irish roads.

This is essentially never found in the UK, but these dashes can also be seen in New Zealand.

You will usually find cream white buildings with black roofs in Ireland. Sometimes, the buildings feature grey corner stones. In cities, you will typically find row buildings.

British style brick buildings can still be found in Ireland.

Regulatory signs (circles and upside down triangles) have the normal red border and white background, like most other European countries.

Irish signage is often bilingual, with English in a regular font, and Irish in italics. Place names, regular words and phrases are all translated.

Irish language is somewhat less common on non-official signage.

Irish chevrons are yellow on black. Both single and multiple arrows are common.

UK chevrons are white on black.

The yellow warning stickers on utility poles can be a good way to distinguish between Ireland and the UK.

The most important difference is that UK stickers feature a guy getting zapped by a lightning bolt. 

The Irish stickers usually have a lightning bolt, but lack the guy getting zapped. They also often have an extra second rectangular sticker with a black outline, below the lightning bolt.

Irish yield signs feature the word “YIELD”.

UK yield signs have the phrase “GIVE WAY”.

Green and white bollards can be a good clue for Ireland. They are not entirely unique to the country, but they are especially helpful when distinguishing it from the UK.

You will often see a strip of grass in the middle of tiny rural roads. Such roads are called “boreens”. While not unique, these boreens can often be a strong clue when you're undecided between Ireland and the UK.

Most of Ireland is dominated by a very green, agricultural landscape, with lots of hedgerows next to the roads and dividing the fields.

This type of landscape is also common in many parts of the UK, and can be virtually indistinguishable from Ireland.

Both Ireland and the UK use wooden utility poles. Pole steps bolted on the side of the pole are very common. These pole steps are shaped like a series of thin horizontal metal rods.

In and around urban areas, you will sometimes encounter double yellow road lines on the sides of marked roads. These indicate a no parking zone, and are also very common in the UK. They are not really found anywhere else in Europe apart from Malta, but landscape should be sufficient to tell it apart.

Pedestrian crossing signs are somewhat rare in Ireland. They are yellow and diamond-shaped, like other road signs.

Instead of pedestrian signs, you will often see these black and white signposts with a yellow bulb on top.

Note that the UK uses exactly the same signposts.

