Bank of Ireland was established by Royal Charter in 1783 and was the official banker to the Irish Government until the formation of the Central Bank of Ireland in 1942. Over the past 50 years, the Bank has grown from its commercial banking roots into a broadly based financial services organisation.

In 2007/2008, the Bank of Ireland Group made profits before tax of €1.93 billion and has assets of more than €197 billion. It is rated Aa2 by Moody’s, AA- by Fitch and A+ by Standard and Poors.

In the 1970’s, the Bank opened offshore subsidiaries and then opened in the Isle of Man in 1981.