I buy shares through Campbell O'Connor stockbrokers who make no fuss (or extra charge?) in providing me with share certificates. Online stockbrokers won't do this for you and some of the other brokers have been awkward about it in the past.
You can get share certs for Irish companies and UK companies, but it's not the practice in may overseas countries such as continental Europe or America.
So my shares in IAWS were converted into shares in Aryzta, a Swiss company, so they are held in a Crest account. I think I pay around €50 a year for Campbell O'Connor to host/sponsor the Crest Account.