The rally began in 1931 as the Ulster Motor Rally, following a multi-start format similar to the Monte Carlo Rally, with competitors converging from different starting points. It eventually settled into a 1,089-mile circuit tracing the Irish coastline, starting and finishing in Bangor, County Down. The Circuit was suspended during World War II and again in 1948 due to fuel shortages. Further individual cancellations occurred in 1957, 1972, 2001 and 2007, the latter the result of prolonged disputes between organisers, the event operating company and sponsors.
After the 2007 cancellation, Ulster Automobile Club filled the Easter weekend with smaller substitute events including the Easter International Rally in Londonderry, Tyrone and Donegal. The Circuit proper restarted at Easter 2008 with Eamonn Boland winning in a Subaru Impreza S12B across twenty special stages.
The event gained Intercontinental Rally Challenge Supporter Event status in 2010, based in Newry, Northern Ireland with fifteen stages including a 29-kilometre night stage. Derek McGarrity and co-driver James McKee won in a Subaru Impreza S12B. The 2012 edition hosted a full round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
In 2014 the Circuit rejoined the European Rally Championship for the first time since 1991, running 18 special stages covering 230 km across two days based out of Belfast. Finnish driver Esapekka Lappi dominated the ERC field, winning by one minute and fifty seconds ahead of German Sepp Wiegand in a Skoda 1-2. Irish driver Robert Barrable finished third in a Ford Fiesta R5. The 2015 and 2016 editions continued as ERC rounds, with the 2016 event also counting toward the British Rally Championship and Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
The 2017 event was cancelled for funding reasons, casting doubt over the rally's future, and the following two years saw unsuccessful attempts to resurrect it. A return planned for Easter 2020 was initially postponed then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the 2021 edition was similarly cancelled. The Ulster Automobile Club had secured a November 2020 date as a fallback but the ongoing public health situation made any running impossible.
The Circuit returned to the 2022 calendar on Easter weekend under the name Wastewater Solutions Circuit of Ireland Rally 2022. Hosted in Mid and East Antrim with headquarters at the Livestock Market in Ballymena, the two-day event covered 192.68 competitive kilometres across 12 stages and served as the opening round of the FIA Celtic Rally Trophy and the third round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
In 2023 the event ran as a single-day rally on 8 April, organised jointly by Cookstown Motor Club and the Ulster Automobile Club. Eight stages in Mid-Ulster totalled 70 competitive miles under the official title Milburn Concrete Circuit of Ireland Rally 2023, counting as the third round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. The most recent running was in 2025.
The Circuit of Ireland is contested almost entirely on paved public roads in the hills and coastal areas of Northern Ireland and the Republic, giving it a character distinct from the gravel forest rallies common elsewhere on the European calendar. Tarmac grip levels and narrow Irish country lanes demand precision driving, and the Easter timing means crews regularly encounter cold and wet spring weather. The event's long history and deep roots in Irish motor sport give it an identity and following well beyond its current domestic championship status.