The aim of this study was to identify in-patient emergency admissions to acute hospitals of residents from a health board region in Ireland with an acute alcohol intoxication diagnosis; to profile the admissions and to assess whether the increase in alcohol consumption in Ireland has been mirrored by an increase in alcohol-related emergency admissions over the same time period. There were 3,289 acute alcohol intoxication admissions to acute hospitals of residents from the study region recorded for years 1997-2001 inclusive. There were 777 acute alcohol intoxication admissions in 2001, compared to 432 admissions in 1997, an increase of 80 per cent. This study shows that alcohol intoxication accounted for a substantial number of emergency in-patient admissions to acute hospitals in one health board region in Ireland and that the age-standardised recorded acute alcohol-related emergency admission rate increased significantly over the five-year period. This increase mirrored the national increase in alcohol consumption over the same time period.