Eircode
Introduction
In July 2015, a national postcode system known as Eircode was introduced.
All residential and business addresses have been given a unique new Eircode. Residential addresses include every address where post is delivered. Each house on a street, each flat in an apartment block, each unit in a duplex unit and each house in a rural townland has been given an Eircode.
In a halting site with numbered bays, each bay has been given an Eircode. The Eircode does not belong to the caravan but to the bay in which it resides. If a caravan or mobile home within a bay moves from the bay, the bay retains the Eircode. If a halting site has an office that receives mail, the office address will get an Eircode.
7-character code
An Eircode is a unique 7-character code consisting of letters and numbers. Each Eircode consists of a 3-character routing key to identify the area and a 4-character unique identifier for each address, for example, A65 F4E2.
The routing key is the first 3 characters of an Eircode. The first character is always a letter, followed by 2 numbers (except for D6W). The letters are not linked to a county or city name, except for postal districts in Dublin, which have had their existing postal codes transferred into a routing key format such as D03, D12 and D22. The same routing key can be shared by several towns and townlands.
The unique identifier is a group of 4-characters and comes after the routing key. Each unique identifier is different and unique to your home or premises. They are not in sequence. This is to avoid the situation where a new building is created between two existing ones, and the code sequence would be broken, requiring all Eircodes in the area to be changed.
How can I find my Eircode?
You can find or check an Eircode using the Eircode Finder.
The information shown on the Eircode Finder is based on information received from An Post GeoDirectory. As An Post update their information and it is passed to Eircode, any changes will be reflected on the Eircode Finder.
Each quarter, Eircode will receive an update with any new properties. At this time any new address will be assigned an Eircode and an Eircode letter will be sent to the occupier of that address. It is likely that if your address is not listed on the current Eircode Finder that it will be in one of the future versions of the Eircode Finder.
Eircode cannot change the postal address information available on the Eircode Finder unless instructed to do so by An Post GeoDirectory. If your address in the Eircode Finder is incorrect, it is recommended that you carry on using the address you normally use and simply add the Eircode.
How do I use my Eircode?
The Eircode should be placed at the end of your normal address, just below the County.
If you are writing to a person in Ireland from overseas, the Eircode should go between the County and Country details.
It is not mandatory to use the Eircode. However, it is likely that organisations will ask you for your Eircode, especially those delivering goods or services to your address.
You should only give your Eircode to people or companies that you would be happy to give your address to.
Personal data
There is no personal data on the Eircode database or Eircode Finder. It does include business names, which in some cases can be the name of an individual, particularly for small businesses or sole traders.
Further information
For further information contact: