Local short name form

Official name

Area

Population

Capital

Currency

International telephone access code

ISO 3166 country codes

Car nationality plate code

Internet country code

GRC Country Code

   1,234.45

(where . indicates the decimal separator and , the thousands separator)

   dd/mm/yyyy
   dd.mm.yyyy
   dd-mm-yyyy
   dd mm yyyy

Both the 12- and 24-hour time notations are used.

   14:32

Ireland has two official languages: English , spoken by 95 per cent of the population, and Irish (Gaelic) spoken by the remaining 5 per cent. The Irish speakers are mainly to be found in An Ghaeltacht, areas to the west and south-west of the country.

Road signs in Irish only, An Ghaeltacht

The surnames of the Irish may differ within a family (more so amongst speakers of Irish). In the name Sean O Fearghail, the ‘O’ indicates “the lineage of”. For a daughter, this would become ni’Fearghail. This is used whether single or married, as her status as daughter does not change. A married woman using her husband’s name may use Ui’Fhearghail meaning “wife of”. However, this form changes before a vowel or as a genitive making recognition for non-Irish-speakers difficult - for example, Seán Mac Anna (son), Áine nic Anna (daughter), Máire bean Mhic Anna (wife of the son of). Amongst English-speakers, the people in this last example would be known as Seán McCann, Áine McCann and Máire McCann.

   Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names , family name prefixes , forms of address , job titles 

In English, words indicating the nature of a company, when forming part of the company name, will always follow the name of the company, either after a comma or in brackets, thus:

   John Smith, Bakers
   John Smith (Bakers)

In Irish, this is reversed to become “Bakery of Smith” (with the name written in the genitive form):

   Bacus Mhic Ghabann

The following company types will be identified in Irish address databases:

   Co-op (Co-operative)
   Cuideachta Phoiblí Theoranta (CPT - Irish form of “PLC”)
   Company limited by guarantee
   Friendly Society
   General Partnership
   Investment limited partnership
   Limited (Ltd) (private limited company)
   Limited partnership
   Non-resident company
   Partnership
   PLC (Public Limited Company)
   PrC (Public company limited by shares)
   Public Corporation
   Public Unlimited Company
   Teoranta (Teo. - Irish form of “Limited”) 

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

   Note: This section last updated 14th July 2015

Addresses are written in the following formats:

   Recipient name 
   {Building {number and} name}
   {number[ ]}Street name 
   {Secondary street line or zone}
   {Settlement name}
   POSTAL TOWN{[ ]sorting code}
   {County name}
   POSTAL CODE

or

   Recipient name 
   {Building {number and} name}
   {number[, ]}Street name 
   {Secondary street line or zone}
   {Settlement name}
   POSTAL TOWN{[ ]sorting code}
   {County name}
   POSTAL CODE

For example:

County names are not required for county towns.

The thoroughfare type is written after and separately from the thoroughfare name in English. In Irish the thoroughfare type is written before and separately from the thoroughfare name (with the exception of when the thoroughfare name is an adjective - thus Golden Lane is Ór Lána). Note also that Irish real names in addresses will change in their Irish form as dictated by rules governing the genitive case. Thus:

   McDermott Tower

is

   Túr Mhic Dhiarmada

in Irish. Another example:

   O’Connell Street

is

   Sráid Uí Chonaill

Non Irish-names will be unaffected:

   Churchill Terrace

is

   Ardán Churchill

Similar rules apply to place-names within street address strings.

In An Ghaeltacht (Irish-speaking areas) the law dictates that addresses are written in Irish only.

   A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired 

Building indicators

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

Thoroughfare types

   Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http:www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm 

Other elements commonly found in address databases for Gaelic

This is written as P.O. Box, Post Office Box, PO Box, or Post office box in English, Bosca Poist in Irish.

   Note: This section last updated 14th July 2015

Ireland’s new postal code system, the Eircode, was introduced on 13th July 2015. These codes have 7 characters, including letters and numbers, and will provide a unique code for each postal address. Each code is unrelated to the codes of the residences around it. The postal code is written on its own at the end of the address block, the rest of the address format remains unchanged. Formats include:

   A99 A9A9
   A99 AA99
   A99 A9AA
   D6W A9A9
   D6W AA99
   D6W A9AA

Codes do not include the letters B, G, I, J, L, M, O, Q or S.

Existing Dublin sorting codes have been incorporated into this system, though it is likely that people will continue to use these sorting codes during the introductory phase of the new postal code system. These sorting codes range between 1 and 24 (though not 18, 21 or 23), and are written after and on the same line as the town name. Odd numbers are for districts north of the River Liffey, even numbers for those to the south. This code is always numeric with the single exception of the code “6W”.

   Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired 

Ireland - Postal code format graphic

Ireland - Postal code format

Ireland - Postal code specifics

Ireland - Postal code regular expression

Ireland - Postal code level of coverage

Ireland - Postal code map

   Note: This section last updated 7th August 2016

Place names may be found in Irish Gaelic, although they will more often be in English. For settlements in An Ghaeltacht the Irish names should be used.

Refer to Exonyms in Ireland for full lists of place names in Ireland in other languages.

Bilingual English/Irish road signs, Western Ireland

Ireland has 4 provinces and 26 counties. Note that only part of the province of Ulster is within the Irish Republic. Counties are usually mentioned in the address, preceded by the abbreviation ‘Co ’, short for ‘County’, as Ireland has no postal codes.

Province	County
Connaught	Galway
	Leitrim
	Mayo
	Roscommon
	Sligo
Leinster	Carlow
	Dublin [see note below]
	Kildare
	Kilkenny
	Laois
	Longford
	Louth
	Meath
	Offaly
	Westmeath
	Wexford
	Wicklow
Munster	Clare
	Cork
	Kerry
	Limerick
	Tipperary
	Waterford
Ulster	Cavan
	Donegal
	Monaghan

The remaining 6 counties of Ulster ( Antrim , Armagh , Down , Fermanagh , Londonderry and Tyrone ) form Northern Ireland , a constituent region of the United Kingdom.

Note: the historic county of Dublin is no longer an administrative county. In 1994 it was split into the city of Dublin and the counties of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown , Fingal and South Dublin , together making up the Dublin Region (Réigiúin Átha Cliath). “County Dublin”, however, remains in common usage and continues to be used in addressing.

Administrative districts graphic

   Note: This section last updated 25th September 2018

Irish numbers when called from abroad have a length of between 7 and 10 digits, with area codes of between 1 and 3 digits and subscriber numbers of between 5 and 8 digits. Mobile number have one of these area codes: 82, 83, 85-89.