The first teaching hospital for sick children in Great Britain and Ireland opened in Dublin in 1821. From then, the development of sick children's nursing in Ireland followed a similar path to that in many other countries until a national report in 2000 recognised that post-registration pathways alone were unlikely to meet future health service needs for suitably qualified and flexible children's nurses. In 2006, a four-and-a-half-year integrated children's and general nursing pre-registration degree programme started on four sites. At the same time, the existing 18-month post-registration course was replaced with an accelerated one-year diploma programme. The full integration of children's nursing into third level at both pre- and post-registration level was a welcome development in Ireland. Further work is under way to address the remaining educational challenges: post-graduate and doctoral programmes, preparation of advanced nurse practitioners and continuing professional education for qualified children's nurses.