Dublin postal districts
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Dublin postal districts are used by Ireland's postal service, known as An Post, to sort mail in the Dublin area. This system is similar to that used in cities in thr UK and other European countries until they adopted national postal code systems in the 1960s and '70s. The postal district appears with one or two digits appearing at the end of addresses, e.g:
British Embassy 29 Merrion Road Ballsbridge Dublin 4
Primarily, odd numbers are used for addresses on the Northside of the River Liffey, while even numbers are on addresses on the Southside. One exception to this is the Phoenix Park (along with a small area between the Park and the River Liffey), which, whilst being on the Northside of Dublin, is part of the Dublin 8 postal district.
In 1985, Dublin 6 was split, with some areas, such as Templeogue, Kimmage and Terenure becoming part of a new district in order to facilitate processing of mail by a new sorting office for those areas. Residents of some areas objected to the assignation of "Dublin 26" for the new postal district, citing property devaluation (the higher numbered districts typically representing less affluent, and typically less central regions), although "address snobbery" probably played as large a factor in the objections. An Post ultimately relented, and the district became known as Dublin 6W.
These numbers appear on most street signs in Dublin, next to the name of the street in English and Irish, hence the 'MERRION ROAD' (Bóthar Mhuirfean) street sign will display the digit '4'.
The numbering system is not used for surrounding areas in County Dublin, such as Dun Laoghaire, Blackrock, Lucan or Swords.
In Cork, there are also numbered districts, eg: the 'PATRICK STREET' (Sráid Phádraig) sign will display the digit '1', but these are not encountered in postal addresses.
Although Ireland's Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, has announced (http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie/Press+Releases/Dempsey+announces+programme+to+introduce+postcodes+in+Ireland+by+1st+January+2008.htm) that postcodes will be introduced in Ireland by 1st January 2008, there is as yet no indication as to what format they will take, and how Dublin postal districts will be incorporated into the new system.
See also
External links
- An Post - The Post Office (http://www.anpost.ie)
- ComReg - Commission for Communications Regulation (http://www.comreg.ie)