This note was issued by National Bank Limited, the design dates from 1937 and is a refreshing and lovely design. Unfortunately, the turmoil in Northern Ireland created opportunity for this note to be commonly defaced because of the of the watermark of Daniel O'Connell, an Irish patriot. I really like the vignette of the young Colleen, with her harp and Irish wolfhound and a ship in the background. With colour and design variations, this series of banknotes from National Bank has to be one of the loveliest ever created in Ireland. The colours on this one are fantastic. This type set of three notes was no small accomplishment to complete, a pursuit about five years in the making. Heavily circulated or defaced notes noted above are not too difficult to find from National Bank, but choice notes are another story altogether. This 1959 note represented the last issue from National Bank, which was absorbed into Bank of Ireland in 1965.
It would appear to signify capital rather than the monarchy, the National Bank was an institution fairly closely linked with the Nationalist movement in 19th century Ireland and the vignette dates from the 19th century: In Northern Ireland banking institutions are fairly closely linked to the politics and divisional forces at play there, in this case the Irish side.
