List of Dublin postal districts

Dublin postal districts have been used by An Post, Ireland's postal service, to sort mail for addresses in Dublin. The system is similar to that used in cities in Europe and North America until they adopted national postal code systems in the 1960s and 1970s. These were incorporated into a new national postcode system, known as Eircode, which was implemented in 2015. Under the Eircode system, the city is covered by the original routing areas D01 to D24, along with A## and K## codes for locations elsewhere in County Dublin.

History

thumb|The green [[Leeson Street nameplate predates postal districts. The newer blue Hatch Street nameplate indicates the district is Dublin 2.]]

The postal district system was introduced in 1917 by the British government, as a practical way to organise local postal distribution. This followed the example of other cities, including London, first subdivided into ten districts in 1857, and Liverpool, the first city in Britain or Ireland to have postcodes, from 1864. The letter "D" was assigned to designate Dublin and was retained by the new Irish government. when the Department of Posts and Telegraphs initiated a scheme that requested senders to add a code to each address in Dublin City and suburbs. When mail was addressed in English senders were to add an appropriate postman's walk number but when addressed in Irish, different letters were used with the same walk numbers, such as Rathgar Road being D3 on mail addresses in English but S3 on Irish addressed mail. This scheme was not popular and within a few years became defunct. In 1961, new postal district numbers started and these numbers were added to street signs

In 1985, Dublin 6 was divided, with some areas, such as Templeogue, Kimmage and Terenure becoming part of a new district in order to facilitate the processing of mail by a new delivery office for those areas. Residents of some areas objected to the assignation of the next available number, "Dublin 26", for the new postal district, citing property devaluation: the higher numbered districts typically represented less affluent and less central areas. An Post ultimately relented, and the western part of the district became known as Dublin 6W.

Structure

thumb|Street sign in [[Dublin, displaying name of the street in Irish and English, with postal district number]]

Historically, the postal district appeared with one or two digits (or in the case of one district, a digit and a letter) at the end of addresses:

Sample Address, Sample Street, Dublin 8

Under the Eircode postcode system, the postal district number is retained in Dublin addresses, e.g.:

Sample Address, Sample Street, Dublin 8, D08 1X2Y

As a general rule, odd numbers are used for addresses on the northside of the River Liffey, while even numbers are on addresses on the southside. Exceptions to this are the Phoenix Park (along with a small area between the Park and the River Liffey), and Chapelizod Village which, although on the Northside, are parts of the Dublin 8 and Dublin 20 postal districts respectively.

Dublin 5 (D5)

Dublin 5 includes Artane, central Coolock, Harmonstown, Kilbarrack, Killester, and Raheny.

Dublin 6 (D6)

Dublin 6 includes Milltown, Ranelagh, parts of Terenure, Rathmines (including Dartry), and Rathgar.

Dublin 6 West (D6W)

thumb|Edwardian-era houses in [[Terenure, D6W]]

Dublin 6 West includes Harold's Cross, Templeogue, Kimmage and most of Terenure.

Dublin 7 (D7)

Dublin 7 includes Arbour Hill, parts of Ashtown, Broadstone, Cabra, Grangegorman, Oxmantown, Phibsborough, Smithfield, Stoneybatter.

Dublin 8 (D8)

Dublin 8 includes Dolphin's Barn, most of Inchicore, Islandbridge, most of Kilmainham, Merchants Quay, Portobello, South Circular Road, the Phoenix Park and The Liberties. Notable buildings include Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick's Cathedral. It is one of only two postal districts to span the Liffey.

On 8 October 2013, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte announced a postcode system for the entire country. This came into effect during 2015 and gave an individual post code to every address in Ireland.

Marketing

The districts are sometimes used in a manner similar to the sub-districts of the London postal district whereby they replace a placename. A property might be described as being "in D4", for example. This public awareness of Dublin postal districts allows occasional use in marketing. Dublin n is usually abbreviated to Dn, with examples including the "D7 Restaurant", "Dtwo" nightclub, or "D4 Hotels".

File:D One restaurant.jpg | D One restaurant

File:DTwo Club.JPG |Dtwo nightclub

File:D4 Hotels sign.JPG | D4 Hotels

File:Rhodes D7 Restaurant.jpg | Rhodes D7 restaurant

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Footnotes

References

External links

Eircode
An Post – The Post Office