Ireland IBAN Format, Length and Example

How Ireland carries bank and sort codes into IBAN

Ireland uses a 22-character IBAN. The Swift IBAN Registry describes the 18-character Irish BBAN as a four-letter bank identifier, a six-digit branch identifier, and an eight-digit account number. The bank letters and branch digits are part of the IBAN itself. They should not be removed or replaced with a separately supplied BIC. A domestic account number shown on an Irish invoice is also not a complete international IBAN unless the full IE value is provided.

When reviewing an Irish IBAN, remove print spaces only and keep all leading zeros in the branch and account blocks. Confirm that the compact value starts with IE and contains 22 characters. Common errors include deleting the four bank letters, entering only domestic details, or joining a payment reference to the end of the IBAN. MOD97-10 evaluates the complete international value. It can catch many altered characters but cannot determine the correct branch or account when the source instruction is incomplete or inconsistent.

The four-letter and six-digit positions provide national structure context, not current directory or routing status. BankCodeKit does not query an Irish bank, account service, or payment scheme, and it does not establish whether a separate BIC is required by a provider. Review the beneficiary name, amount, currency, and reference independently. If invoice details differ from a known supplier record, confirm the change through an established channel. Passing the Irish format check does not prove account ownership, network reachability, fraud status, or successful settlement.

Letters and domestic routing inside the Irish BBAN

• The value starts with IE, the IBAN country code for Ireland.
• The next two characters are international check digits.
• The remaining 18 characters are the country-specific BBAN section: 18 BBAN characters after the country code and check digits: a four-letter bank identifier, 6-digit branch identifier, and 8-digit account number.
• Irish IBANs can include a four-letter bank identifier in the BBAN section.
• The AIBK letters in the example remain part of the IBAN and should not be removed during normalization.

Normalizing IE29 without removing AIBK

For Ireland, compare the grouped invoice-style value with the compact IE input produced after presentation spaces are removed.

Input shown on page

IE29 AIBK 9311 5212 3456 78

Normalized digital value

IE29AIBK93115212345678

Expected length

22 characters

Result interpretation

A passing IE result means the visible value matched supported Ireland structure and MOD97 rules, not that the account or payee was verified.

The Irish positions covered by format checking

• Whether the IBAN starts with the IE country code.
• Whether the IBAN has 22 characters after normalization.
• Whether the value uses allowed letters and digits.
• Whether the MOD97-10 checksum is valid.

Stripped bank letters and domestic-only details

• Deleting the four-letter bank identifier because it looks like a separate code.
• Using only domestic account details where an international IE IBAN is required.

When the IE structure clarifies a payment form

• Checking Irish payment details where both letters and digits appear in the IBAN.
• Comparing an IE IBAN with a separate BIC/SWIFT code review.
• Use the IBAN Checker after this Ireland reference when you need a local MOD97 result for one IE value.

Ireland in the country-level SEPA reference

For Ireland, the local SEPA country reference is: SEPA country - EU. This Ireland country-level entry does not establish scheme support for a particular bank or account.

Questions about IE letters and sort codes

Last reviewed: 2026-07-17 Sources: Swift IBAN Registry, European Payments Council SEPA scheme countries list Reference data is reviewed periodically. BankCodeKit does not perform live bank, account, sanctions, or payment-network confirmation.