The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank based in Ireland, and one of the main 4 banks currently operating in both parts of the island. It's official name is the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland.

Historically The Bank of Ireland was Ireland's main banking institution, although it was never the Irish Central Bank. At present it stands at second to Allied Irish Bank.

The banks headquarters are located in Dublin, Ireland, with operations spanning throughout the UK, especially in Northern Ireland, where it prints its own banknotes in Sterling. Bank of Ireland has the rights to use the Bristol & West brand name to sell Mortgages after acquiring the building society in 1996. It was then sold it to Britannia Building Society in 2005, but the rights were retained. The British Post Office in the UK offers financial services that are provided by The Bank of Ireland.

The Bank of Ireland offers a broad range of personal, business, and student banking through a variety of products which in include Insurance, current accounts, savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, travel banking and financial services.

Following the financial crisis in 2008 the Irish Government changed its compensation scheme to guarantee all deposits to Sept 2010.