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
Address Line 1
Property Name
line_1
Type
string
Address Line Two
Address Line 2
Property Name
line_2
Type
string
Post Town
Property Name
post_town
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
A65 R2AF
Property Name
eircode
Type
string
Country
Full country names (ISO 3166)
Property Name
country
Type
string
Possible Values
"Ireland"
Multi-Line Address Format
Ready to print on envelopes and mailers
Address Line One
Address Line 1
Property Name
line_1
Type
string
Address Line Two
Address Line 2
Property Name
line_2
Type
string
Address Line THree
Address Line 3
Property Name
line_3
Type
string
Address Line Four
Address Line 4
Property Name
line_4
Type
string
Address Line Five
Address Line 5
Property Name
line_5
Type
string
Address Line Six
Address Line 6
Property Name
line_6
Type
string
Address Line Seven
Address Line 7
Property Name
line_7
Type
string
Address Line Eight
Address Line 8
Property Name
line_8
Type
string
Address Line Nine
Address Line 9
Property Name
line_9
Type
string
Premise Details
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
Property Name
building_name
Type
string
Sub-Building Name
The sub-building refers to an apartment, flat or unit within a building.
Example
Flat 1
Property Name
sub_building_name
Type
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 and2_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
Property Name
building_number
Type
string
Building Group
A building group is a collection of buildings with a collective name, located on or near the same thoroughfare.
Example
Marrian Terrace
Property Name
building_group
Type
string
Organisation information
Organisation name
Example
Oak Tree Limited
Property Name
organisation
Type
string
Department
The department or division within an organisation. If the department element exists, then the organisation must also exist.
Example
Accounts Department
Property Name
department
Type
string
Locality information
Primary Thoroughfare
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
Property Name
primary_thoroughfare
Type
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
Navan Road
Property Name
secondary_thoroughfare
Type
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
Cookstown Industrial Estate
Property Name
primary_locality
Type
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
Manorhamilton
Property Name
secondary_locality
Type
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 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
Property Name
tertiary_locality
Type
string
Geospatial information
Rooftop longitude and latitude
Longitude
Property Name
longitude
Latitude
Property Name
latitude
Mail routing
An Post sorting information.
Property Name
postaim_presort_152
Type
string
Postaim Presort 61
Property Name
postaim_presort_51
Premise Type
Minute datapoints on the type of building and occupancy
Gaeltacht
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.
Property Name
gaeltacht
Type
boolean
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.
Property Name
building_address_type
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.
Property Name
address_type
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
Property Name
primary_locality_address_type
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
Property Name
secondary_locality_address_type
Type
string
Building Use
Can be one of:
RResidentialCCommercialBBothUUnknown
Property Name
building_use
Possible Values
"R""C""B""U"
Building Type
Describes the type of building, e.g. detached, semi-detached, bungalow.
Property Name
building_type
Type
string
Holiday Home
A Yes/No field, indicating whether or not the building is a holiday home.
Property Name
holiday_home
Possible Values
"N""Y"""
Vacant
A Yes/No field, indicating whether the building is vacant.
Property Name
vacant
Possible Values
"Y""N"""
Nace Category
Name of the NACE Category
Property Name
nace_category
Type
string
Publicity Post Zone
An Post publicity post zone information.
Property Name
publicity_post_zone
Type
string
Under Construction
A Yes/No field, indicating whether or not the building is under construction.
Property Name
under_construction
Possible Values
"N""Y"""
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.
Property Name
nua
Type
boolean
Unique Identifiers
ID numbers to consistently and accurately reference property
ID
Property Name
id
Address Reference
Property Name
address_reference
Address Point ID
Address Point ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
address_point_id
Type
string
ECAD ID
Unique 10 digit ECAD ID
Example
17000000
Property Name
ecad_id
Type
string
NACE Code
The NACE Code for the Category.
Property Name
nace_code
Type
string
Gaeltacht ID
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.
Property Name
gaeltacht_id
Type
string
Building ID
Building ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
building_id
Type
string
Building Group ID
Building Group ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
building_group_id
Type
string
Primary Thoroughfare ID
Primary Thoroughfare ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
primary_thoroughfare_id
Type
string
Secondary Thoroughfare ID
Secondary Thoroughfare ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
secondary_thoroughfare_id
Type
string
Primary Locality ID
Primary Locality ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
primary_locality_id
Type
string
Secondary Locality ID
Secondary Locality ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
secondary_locality_id
Type
string
Post Town ID
Post Town ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
post_town_id
Type
string
Townland ID
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.
Property Name
townland_id
Type
string
Post County ID
Post County ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
post_county_id
Type
string
Organisation ID
Organisation ID
Example
10098783
Property Name
organisation_id
Type
string
Small Area ID
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.
Property Name
small_area_id
Type
string
Ded ID
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.
Property Name
ded_id
Type
string
Dataset
Property Name
dataset
Type
string
Possible Values
"ecad"
Miscellaneous
Country ISO
3 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)
Property Name
country_iso
Possible Values
"IRL"
Country ISO 2
2 letter country code (ISO 3166-1)
Property Name
country_iso_2
Type
string
Possible Values
"IE"
Language
Language represented by 2 letter ISO Code (639-1)
Property Name
language
Possible Values
"en""ga"