Do you need to take a driving test in Dublin as on a recent visit I never saw an L plate or any driving schools.Also none seen in Southern Island at all.
Yes. The driving test is similar to the UK one and L plates are required for provisional licence holders. There was a time when anyone could buy a driving licence over the counter at the post office. That stopped in 1934 in the UK, but from memory it stopped around the 1960s in Ireland.