 The smaller denomination British 1p and 2p coins continued to be unofficially interchangeable with the Irish coins until the euro was introduced in 2002, partly due to their identical size and shape.Ireland adopted the euro as its currency along with most of its EU partners on 1 January 2002.The national side of the Irish euro coins bears the coat of arms of Ireland and the 12 stars of the EU, the year of imprint and the Irish name for Ireland, "Éire", in the traditional Irish script.