Skip to main content

IE Address (ECAD)

ECAF file including additional data for each address.

Essential Elements​

Standard Republic of Ireland Address format as reported by the Eircode ECAF file.

Address Line One​

line_1string

Address Line 1

Address Line Two​

line_2string

Address Line 2

Post Town​

post_town

Schema not found.

Eircode​

eircodestring

The seven character Eircode has an A65 F4E2 format. The Eircode is a mandatory address element. The last line of a Postal Address will contain the Eircode, displayed with a space. e.g. A65 F4E2.

The Eircode is always the last line of a Postal Address generated within the state, e.g. if an address has four lines then the Eircode will be on its own on Address Line 5. For inbound international mail the country name IRELAND should be appended as the last line of the Postal Address.

Example
A65 R2AF

Country​

countrystring

Full country names (ISO 3166)

Values
  • "Ireland"

Multi-Line Address Format​

Ready to print on envelopes and mailers

Address Line One​

line_1string

Address Line 1

Address Line Two​

line_2string

Address Line 2

Address Line THree​

line_3string

Address Line 3

Address Line Four​

line_4string

Address Line 4

Address Line Five​

line_5string

Address Line 5

Address Line Six​

line_6string

Address Line 6

Address Line Seven​

line_7string

Address Line 7

Address Line Eight​

line_8string

Address Line 8

Address Line Nine​

line_9string

Address Line 9

Premise Details​

building_namestring

The name given to the building. Prepended by sub building, if any, when the sub building does not appear on a line to itself. The building name is omitted if it is the same as either the Organisation or Building Group.

Example
Rose Cottage

Sub-Building Name​

sub_building_namestring

The sub-building refers to an apartment, flat or unit within a building.

Example
Flat 1

Building Number​

building_numberstring

A number associated with the whole building. The building number may have a numeric and an alphanumeric component, which are concatenated e.g. 2A, or alternatively will have a simple building number or a complex building number. The building number always relates to the whole building and not a sub-unit within it. A complex building number may be one of the following:

  • Dual. Two number separated by '/' e.g. 63/64 = 63, 64
  • Sequence. An odd or even sequence of numbers with lower and upper bound separated by an underscore '_' e.g. 1_5 = 1,3,5 and 2_6 = 2,4,6
  • Range. A range of consecutive numbers with lower and upper bound separated by a dash '-' e.g. 63-66 = 63, 64, 56, 66 The building number never appears on a line by itself and can prepend Building Group, Primary Thoroughfare or Primary Locality.
Example
22

Building Group​

building_groupstring

A building group is a collection of buildings with a collective name, located on or near the same thoroughfare.

Example
Marrian Terrace

Organisation information​

organisationstring

Organisation name

Example
Oak Tree Limited

Department​

departmentstring

The department or division within an organisation. If the department element exists, then the organisation must also exist.

Example
Accounts Department

Locality information​

Primary Thoroughfare​

primary_thoroughfarestring

The name of the thoroughfare on which premises are located. It may appear on a line by itself or be appended to either a sub building or building number.

Addresses with thoroughfares can sometimes have the thoroughfare excluded where a Building Group exists, such as a Retail Centre or Business Park, and the thoroughfare is not part of the Postal Address.

Example
Griffith Road

Secondary Thoroughfare​

secondary_thoroughfarestring

It is never present without a primary thoroughfare. The primary thoroughfare is dependent on the secondary thoroughfare and appears before the secondary thoroughfare in any address.

Secondary thoroughfare are generally used to assist locating a primary thoroughfare.

Example
Navan Road

Primary Locality​

primary_localitystring

First locality elements which can refer to areas, districts, industrial estates, towns, etc.

The primary locality refers to the specific place the address is.

In urban areas, the primary locality can be required to distinguish between two thoroughfares of the same name in the same district or town. Industrial estates with named thoroughfares are also held as localities. In rural areas the primary locality is generally a townland name.

Example
Cookstown Industrial Estate

Secondary Locality​

secondary_localitystring

Never present without a primary locality. The secondary locality has a wider geographic scope than the primary locality.

It is the secondary locality therefore which differentiates addresses with the same primary locality name within the same county.

Secondary localities are more likely to be required for rural addresses.

Second locality elements which can refer to areas, districts, industrial estates, towns, etc

The secondary locality helps identify where the primary locality is located.

Example
Manorhamilton

Tertiary Locality​

tertiary_localitystring

Also known as the Post Town.

The name of the post town associated with the premises for postal delivery purposes. This includes Dublin Postal Districts "Dublin 1" to "Dublin 24".

The post town is a significant element of the Postal Address, however it is not always populated in an address. The official post office guide, Eolaí an Phoist4, describes post towns in the following manner:

"A provincial postal address may include the name of a town or village several miles distant, with which the addressee has little or no connection, and, in some places, especially if this residence happens to be near a county boundary, the name of the neighbouring county instead of the county in which he actually resides. The explanation is that the main mail despatches have to be sent for more detailed sub division to certain centres known as POST TOWNS, chosen because of their accessibility and convenience."

Example
Dublin 14

Geospatial information​

Rooftop longitude and latitude

Longitude​

longitude

Latitude​

latitude

Mail routing​

postaim_presort_152string

An Post sorting information.

Postaim Presort 61​

postaim_presort_51

Schema not found.

Premise Type​

Minute datapoints on the type of building and occupancy

Gaeltacht​

gaeltachtboolean

Gaeltact refers to a district where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language.

Returns true if address is in a Gaeltacht area and false if not.

Building Address Type​

building_address_typestring

The building type can assume one of the following values:

  • Single Occupancy Residential Building. This type of building contains one residential address.
  • Multi Occupancy Residential Building. This type of building contains multiple residential addresses.
  • Single Occupancy Non-Residential Building. This type of building contains one non-residential address (business, club or other organisation).
  • Multi Occupancy Non-Residential Building. This type of building contains multiple non-residential addresses (business, club or other organisation).
  • Multi Occupancy Mixed Use Building. This type of building contains multiple residential and non- residential addresses.

Buildings can also have a more specific address types such as a Hospital, School, Shopping Centre, etc.

Address Type​

address_typestring

Addresses points can assume one of the following values:

  • Residential Address Point. This type of address point has one residential addresses associated with it.
  • Non-Residential Address Point. This type of address point has one or more non-residential address (business, club or other organisation) associated with it.
  • Mixed Address Point. This is a special case where the residential and non residential addresses in the building are essentially the same address. The typical example is a farm house on an active farm. It is important to note that this is a special case. In general a building with both residential and non-residential addresses (e.g. an apartment over a shop) will receive two address points, one commercial and one residential, and hence two Eircodes.

Buildings can contain multiple address points of type Residential and/or Non-Residential.

Primary Locality Address Type​

primary_locality_address_typestring

The locality type can be:

  • Rural Locality. This is generally a townland.
  • Industrial Estate. Industrial Estate, Industrial Park, Business Campus, etc.
  • Shopping District. Shopping Centre.
  • Housing Estate. Residential Housing Estate.
  • Village. Based on Census 2011 population < 1,500.
  • Town. Based on Census 2011 population > 1,500.
  • Urban Area. Wholly within a village/town/city e.g. Rathmines.
  • Suburban Locality. This is an area that is both rural and urban, as it is both a townland, and also an area name applied to houses in a town, as the town has extended partially into the townland.

Where the locality is also the post town, the type can be:

  • Village. Based on Census 2011 population < 1,500
  • Town. Based on Census 2011 population > 1,500
  • Postal District. Dublin 1 to 24
  • City. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway or Waterford

Secondary Locality Address Type​

secondary_locality_address_typestring

The locality type can be:

  • Rural Locality. This is generally a townland.
  • Industrial Estate. Industrial Estate, Industrial Park, Business Campus, etc.
  • Shopping District. Shopping Centre.
  • Housing Estate. Residential Housing Estate.
  • Village. Based on Census 2011 population < 1,500.
  • Town. Based on Census 2011 population > 1,500.
  • Urban Area. Wholly within a village/town/city e.g. Rathmines.
  • Suburban Locality. This is an area that is both rural and urban, as it is both a townland, and also an area name applied to houses in a town, as the town has extended partially into the townland.

Where the locality is also the post town, the type can be:

  • Village. Based on Census 2011 population < 1,500
  • Town. Based on Census 2011 population > 1,500
  • Postal District. Dublin 1 to 24
  • City. Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway or Waterford

Building Use​

building_use

Can be one of:

  • R Residential
  • C Commercial
  • B Both
  • U Unknown
Values
  • "R"
  • "C"
  • "B"
  • "U"

Building Type​

building_typestring

Describes the type of building, e.g. detached, semi-detached, bungalow.

Holiday Home​

holiday_home

A Yes/No field, indicating whether or not the building is a holiday home.

Values
  • "N"
  • "Y"
  • ""

Vacant​

vacant

A Yes/No field, indicating whether the building is vacant.

Values
  • "Y"
  • "N"
  • ""

Nace Category​

nace_categorystring

Name of the NACE Category

Publicity Post Zone​

publicity_post_zonestring

An Post publicity post zone information.

Under Construction​

under_construction

A Yes/No field, indicating whether or not the building is under construction.

Values
  • "N"
  • "Y"
  • ""

NUA​

nuaboolean

NUA means "non-unique address".

The NUA field contains true when the address is a non-unique address, and false when it is a unique address.

Ireland has a very high level of non-unique addresses (NUA), i.e. the address does not contain a unique building number or name. Approximately 35% of all Irish addresses are non-unique which equates to 600,000 addresses.

The typical example of NUA addressing is where every address in a townland is the same. The way that post is delivered is by local knowledge of postal delivery personnel of which addressee lives in which house.

N.B. For a NUA address, it is impossible to match to a unique record in the ECAD and assign an Eircode.

Unique Identifiers​

ID numbers to consistently and accurately reference property

ID​

id

Schema not found.

Address Reference​

address_reference

Schema not found.

Address Point ID​

address_point_idstring

Address Point ID

Example
10098783

ECAD ID​

ecad_idstring

Unique 10 digit ECAD ID

Example
17000000

NACE Code​

nace_codestring

The NACE Code for the Category.

Gaeltacht ID​

gaeltacht_idstring

Unique Identifier for the 7 Gaeltacht areas 2017 data.

Note that this field is subject to breaking changes if a new generation of government data IDs is released. Currently this uses 2017 IDs. Contact us to be notified ahead of his change.

Building ID​

building_idstring

Building ID

Example
10098783

Building Group ID​

building_group_idstring

Building Group ID

Example
10098783

Primary Thoroughfare ID​

primary_thoroughfare_idstring

Primary Thoroughfare ID

Example
10098783

Secondary Thoroughfare ID​

secondary_thoroughfare_idstring

Secondary Thoroughfare ID

Example
10098783

Primary Locality ID​

primary_locality_idstring

Primary Locality ID

Example
10098783

Secondary Locality ID​

secondary_locality_idstring

Secondary Locality ID

Example
10098783

Post Town ID​

post_town_idstring

Post Town ID

Example
10098783

Townland ID​

townland_idstring

Unique Identifier for townland 2017 data.

Note that this field is subject to breaking changes if a new generation of government data IDs is released. Currently this uses 2017 IDs. Contact us to be notified ahead of his change.

Post County ID​

post_county_idstring

Post County ID

Example
10098783

Organisation ID​

organisation_idstring

Organisation ID

Example
10098783

Small Area ID​

small_area_idstring

Unique Identifier for the Small Area 2017 data.

Note that this field is subject to breaking changes if a new generation of government data IDs is released. Currently this uses 2017 IDs. Contact us to be notified ahead of his change.

Ded ID​

ded_idstring

Unique Identifier for Electoral Divisions 2017 data.

Note that this field is subject to breaking changes if a new generation of government data IDs is released. Currently this uses 2017 IDs. Contact us to be notified ahead of his change.

Dataset​

datasetstring
Values
  • "ecad"

Miscellaneous​

Country ISO​

country_iso

3 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)

Values
  • "IRL"

Country ISO 2​

country_iso_2string

2 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)

Values
  • "IE"

Language​

language

Language represented by 2 letter ISO Code (639-1)

Values
  • "en"
  • "ga"