IE Address (ECAD)

ECAD file including additional data for each address.

ECAD is the Eircode Address Database. It carries every ECAF postal address element plus GeoDirectory identifiers, building and organisation attributes, administrative area references and An Post sorting information. English and Irish language versions of each address are indexed separately and distinguished by language.

Unavailable elements are returned as an empty string, never null.

Example Record

Field	Example	Type
id	ecad_1700000000|en	string
dataset	ecad	string
ecad_id	1700000000	string
country_iso	IRL	string
country_iso_2	IE	string
country	Ireland	string
language	en	string
line_1	Apartment 4	string
line_2	The Mall	string
line_3	Riverside Way	string
line_4	Midleton	string
line_5	Co. Cork	string
line_6	P25 PR28	string
line_7	Empty in this example	string
line_8	Empty in this example	string
line_9	Empty in this example	string
department	Empty in this example	string
organisation	Empty in this example	string
sub_building_name	Apartment 4	string
building_name	Empty in this example	string
building_number	Empty in this example	string
building_group	The Mall	string
primary_thoroughfare	Riverside Way	string
secondary_thoroughfare	Empty in this example	string
primary_locality	Empty in this example	string
secondary_locality	Empty in this example	string
tertiary_locality	Midleton	string
post_county	Cork	string
eircode	P25 PR28	string
address_reference	4065432740654331	string
organisation_id	Empty in this example	string
address_point_id	1700000000	string
building_id	1401909875	string
building_group_id	1300011097	string
primary_thoroughfare_id	1200004534	string
secondary_thoroughfare_id	Empty in this example	string
primary_locality_id	Empty in this example	string
secondary_locality_id	Empty in this example	string
post_town	Midleton	string
post_town_id	1100000075	string
post_county_id	1001000000	string
nua	false	boolean
gaeltacht	false	boolean
address_type	Residential Address Point	string
building_address_type	Multi Occupancy Mixed Building	string
building_group_address_type	Apartment Complex	string
primary_locality_address_type	Empty in this example	string
secondary_locality_address_type	Empty in this example	string
building_type	Semi-Detached	string
holiday_home	N	string
under_construction	N	string
building_use	B	string
vacant	N	string
org_vacant	Empty in this example	string
nace_code	Empty in this example	string
nace_category	Empty in this example	string
local_authority	Empty in this example	string
ded_id	Empty in this example	string
small_area_id	Empty in this example	string
townland_id	Empty in this example	string
gaeltacht_id	Empty in this example	string
postaim_presort_61	Portlaoise Hub	string
postaim_presort_152	Midleton	string
publicity_post_zone	19	string
longitude	Empty in this example	string
latitude	Empty in this example	string

Every field is documented below.

Essential Elements

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

line_1 string

Address Line One

Address Line 1

Example Apartment 4

line_2 string

Address Line Two

Address Line 2

Example The Mall

eircode string

Eircode

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 P25 PR28

country string

Country

Full country names (ISO 3166)

Example Ireland

Enum

• "Ireland"

Multi-Line Address Format

Ready to print on envelopes and mailers

line_1 string

Address Line One

Address Line 1

Example Apartment 4

line_2 string

Address Line Two

Address Line 2

Example The Mall

line_3 string

Address Line Three

Address Line 3

Example Riverside Way

line_4 string

Address Line Four

Address Line 4

Example Midleton

line_5 string

Address Line Five

Address Line 5

Example Co. Cork

line_6 string

Address Line Six

Address Line 6

Example P25 PR28

line_7 string

Address Line Seven

Address Line 7

Example Empty in this example

line_8 string

Address Line Eight

Address Line 8

Example Empty in this example

line_9 string

Address Line Nine

Address Line 9

Example Empty in this example

Premise Details

building_name string

The name given to the building, e.g. Rose Cottage. 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 Empty in this example

sub_building_name string

Sub-Building Name

The sub-building refers to an apartment, flat or unit within a building, e.g. Flat 1.

Example Apartment 4

building_number string

Building Number

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 Empty in this example

building_group string

Building Group

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

Example The Mall

Organisation information

organisation string

Organisation name, e.g. Oak Tree Limited.

Example Empty in this example

department string

Department

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

Example Empty in this example

Locality information

primary_thoroughfare string

Primary Thoroughfare

The name of the thoroughfare on which premises are located, e.g. Griffith Road. 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 Riverside Way

secondary_thoroughfare string

Secondary Thoroughfare

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 Empty in this example

primary_locality string

Primary Locality

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 Empty in this example

secondary_locality string

Secondary Locality

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 Empty in this example

tertiary_locality string

Tertiary Locality

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 Phoist, 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 Midleton

Geospatial information

Rooftop longitude and latitude

longitude string

Longitude

Example Empty in this example

latitude string

Latitude

Example Empty in this example

Mail routing

postaim_presort_152 string

An Post sorting information.

Example Midleton

Premise Type

Minute datapoints on the type of building and occupancy

gaeltacht boolean

Gaeltacht

Gaeltacht 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.

Example false

building_address_type string

Building Address Type

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.

Example Multi Occupancy Mixed Building

address_type string

Address Type

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.

Example Residential Address Point

primary_locality_address_type string

Primary Locality Address Type

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

Example Empty in this example

secondary_locality_address_type string

Secondary Locality Address Type

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

Example Empty in this example

building_use string

Building Use

Can be one of:

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

Empty string if the building carries no use information.

Example B

Enum

• "R"
• "C"
• "B"
• "U"
• ""

building_type string

Building Type

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

Example Semi-Detached

holiday_home string

Holiday Home

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

Example N

Enum

• "Y"
• "N"
• ""

vacant string

Vacant

A Yes/No field, indicating whether the building is vacant. Empty string if unknown.

Example N

Enum

• "Y"
• "N"
• ""

nace_category string

Nace Category

Name of the NACE Category

Example Empty in this example

publicity_post_zone string

Publicity Post Zone

An Post publicity post zone information.

Example 19

under_construction string

Under Construction

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

Example N

Enum

• "Y"
• "N"
• ""

nua boolean

NUA

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.

Example false

Unique Identifiers

ID numbers to consistently and accurately reference property

address_point_id string

Address Point ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the address point.

Example 1700000000

ecad_id string

ECAD ID

Unique ECAD identifier for the postal address. Up to 10 digits.

Example 1700000000

nace_code string

NACE Code

The NACE Code for the Category.

Example Empty in this example

gaeltacht_id string

Gaeltacht ID

Unique Identifier for the Gaeltacht area, from the 2017 data. There are 7 Gaeltacht areas. Empty string if the address is not in a Gaeltacht.

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 this change.

Example Empty in this example

building_id string

Building ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the building.

Example 1401909875

building_group_id string

Building Group ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the building group. Empty string if the address has no building group.

Example 1300011097

primary_thoroughfare_id string

Primary Thoroughfare ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the primary thoroughfare.

Example 1200004534

secondary_thoroughfare_id string

Secondary Thoroughfare ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the secondary thoroughfare. Empty string if the address has no secondary thoroughfare.

Example Empty in this example

primary_locality_id string

Primary Locality ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the primary locality. Empty string if the address has no primary locality.

Example Empty in this example

secondary_locality_id string

Secondary Locality ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the secondary locality. Empty string if the address has no secondary locality.

Example Empty in this example

post_town_id string

Post Town ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the post town.

Example 1100000075

townland_id string

Townland ID

Unique Identifier for the townland, from the 2017 data.

A townland is a small geographical division of land commonly used in Ireland, and the building block for higher-level Electoral Divisions. Townland names may not be unique within a County.

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 this change.

Example Empty in this example

post_county_id string

Post County ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the post county. Empty string if the address has no post county.

Example 1001000000

organisation_id string

Organisation ID

GeoDirectory identifier for the organisation. Empty string if the address has no organisation.

Example Empty in this example

small_area_id string

Small Area ID

Unique Identifier for the Small Area, from the 2017 data.

Small Area boundaries are sub-divisions of Electoral Divisions. A normal Small Area comprises approximately 80-120 dwellings, created by the National Institute of Regional and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) on behalf of Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) in consultation with the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

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 this change.

Example Empty in this example

ded_id string

Ded ID

Unique Identifier for the Electoral Division, from the 2017 data.

Electoral Divisions are legally defined administrative areas in Ireland. There are 3,441 Electoral Divisions, each a sub-division of a County.

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 this change.

Example Empty in this example

dataset string

Dataset

Example ecad

Enum

• "ecad"

Miscellaneous

country_iso string

Country ISO

3 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)

Example IRL

Enum

• "IRL"

country_iso_2 string

Country ISO 2

2 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)

Example IE

Enum

• "IE"

language string

Language

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

Example en

Enum

• "en"
• "ga"