Eircode Products for Business

What is Eircode?

Eircode is Ireland’s national address system, launched to solve long-standing challenges with non-unique and inconsistent addresses. Every residential and business address is assigned a unique seven-character code, making it easier to find and verify properties.

What Are ECAF and ECAD?

To support organisations and developers, Eircode provides two core datasets that offer access to accurate, up-to-date address information:

1. Eircode Address File (ECAF)

ECAF contains a complete list of all 2.2 million unique address points in the Republic of Ireland. It includes every residential and commercial property that has been assigned an Eircode.

2. Eircode Address Database (ECAD)

ECAD includes all ECAF data, plus additional data like:

• Alias addresses - alternate names, spelling or address formats of properties.

• Geocoordinates - longitude and Latitude geocoordinates.

• Building types - single occupancy or commercial premises.

• Property status - under construction, vacant, holiday home etc.

This richer dataset is designed for businesses, ecommerce sites, CRMs, logistics providers, and public sector systems that rely on highly accurate addresses and enriched data.

What’s Included in the ECAF Dataset

Explore the core address data fields available in the Eircode Address File (ECAF).

Enhanced Data Available in the ECAD Dataset

See the extended address attributes included in the Eircode Address Database (ECAD)

Why Is Irish Addressing So Complex?

The Republic of Ireland has a number of challenges when it comes to property addressing.

Non-Unique Addresses (NUAs): Around 35% of all Irish addresses (approx. 600,000) are non-unique, meaning they do not have a distinguishing building name or number. This can lead to confusion and missed deliveries, particularly in rural or densely developed areas. You can also find multiple versions of the same property name.

Language Variations: Properties often have names in both English and Irish (Gaelic), and some addresses may be spelled differently across databases.

No Building Numbers: Many rural areas lack traditional building numbers, making it difficult to accurately locate a property using only the street name.

Eircode solves this challenge by assigning a unique seven-character code to each residential and business property. Even if multiple properties share the same base address, their Eircode ensures that each location can be accurately identified and located.

Eircode Address Validation & Lookup Tools

Ideal Postcodes' Eircode finder simplifies filling out address forms by making the process both faster and more efficient. It also detects and corrects non-unique addresses, which helps businesses achieve reliable deliveries, accurate customer onboarding, and smoother overall operations.

Key features include:

• Search in English or Gaelic

• Real-time address autocomple for websites and internal systems

• Fuzzy matching auto-corrects typos, abbreviations, and variations while typing

• High match rate returns accurate results even when addresses are entered partially or out of order

• Access to enriched data including geocoordinates, address type, and more

Eircode Integration for Your Business

Want to add address lookup for Ireland to your website, CRM, ecommerce store or logistics platform?

We offer:

• Easy-to-integrate API or low code integrations for major platforms

• Scalable usage options

• Fast, reliable performance

• Address enrichment using ECAD data

Contact us if you are interested in implementing Eircode data to your system.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between ECAF and ECAD?
ECAF is a list of every Eircode in Ireland. ECAD includes ECAF plus additional metadata like aliases, geocoordinates, building types, and status indicators.

Can I search addresses in Irish (Gaelic)?
Yes, our address search tools accept inputs in both English and Irish.

Is the data updated regularly?
Yes, new addresses and Eircodes are added quarterly.

I’ve signed up; why don’t I see Eircode data available right away?
Eircode data is not automatically available on all accounts due to licensing restrictions set by Eircode. To access Eircode address data, you’ll need to contact our team so we can enable it for you. Get in touch with us if you’d like to activate Eircode on your account.