The 16 amp outlets are shuttered schuko, although I've seen the old large round pin British style ones used in some installations (rare).
According to someone I know in the ESB what happend was: Originally Schuko was adopted by the ESB as standard and was installed in most places. The German standard voltage was also used (220V single phase and 380V 3phase @ 50hz) However, many electricians worked/trained in the UK and many appliences shipped with UK plugs and British standard fittings were far easier to buy in the pre-Euro days! Most electricians/retailers didn't want to have to buy from Gemany/NL etc in the days when IR£ 1 = UK£1 As the standards were only loosly inforced there was a general slide towards using UK/BS fittings instead of the ESB's original schuko based standard. I would also suspect that when (IS 401/A ) BS 1363/A was introduced it was seen as a safer alternative to unshuttered recessed schuko outlets (or old BS ones) even though modern versions are now shuttered the older ones here were regular causes of electrocution (as were the old british style ones). Children could easily insert foreign objects into the round holes. It was a totally incompatable standard and thus rendered the mixture of old BS and aging schuko installations obselete speeding up re-wiring of older properties.
The offical standard is now IS 401/A : 1993 which is BS 1363/A 13Amp plug/socket system. You may see Type approved by NSAI or a little "flash" symbol on plugs in the UK. The older BS plugs and sockets are not officially recognised at all.
Irish wiring standards however, while similar to the UK, are not necessarily the same and tend to follow European norms much more closley except for domestic plugs/sockets.
Schuko was commonly used pre-1970's in the Rep. of Ireland. From what I've seen it was always side-earthed, I've never seen an old socket that didn't have earthing. You can still purchase Schuko plugs and sockets in most electrical shops (even general department stores sell side-earthed schuko plugs) It was probabally a far superior standard to the older generation british plug/socket system which was an absolute brute. I have elderly relatives in Northern Ireland who still have that system and I know that unplugging the kettle is practically a 2man operation. They just don't seem to be designed to be pulled out!
Why are the pins so large? Did BSI think that people would be using portable 10KW appliences in the future?
