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Eircode - Why did they bother?

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    #512
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,435 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    The first two letters are vital in getting the post to the correct sorting office for onwards delivery, without the routing key the deliveries would get lost in a system that required them.

    I know that!

    I was just adding a counter argument against the people who claim that the first two letters of the postcode referring to the "local" town somehow helps in remembering it.


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    #513
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Alun wrote: »
    I know that!

    I was just adding a counter argument against the people who claim that the first two letters of the postcode referring to the "local" town somehow helps in remembering it.
    In the UK, the first two letters have the name of a town associated to them so are easier to remember in that respect, the eircode has a random prefix that has no relation to the name of the town that has the sorting office, with the exception of Dublin that retained the old postal regional codes.


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    #514
    flaneur
    Closed Accounts Posts: 960 ✭✭✭flaneur


    Except they're not random, the routing keys seem to be clustered pretty much like telephone area codes.

    The only bit that makes absolutely no sense to me is the H-code, which is split.

    One half of it is in Galway and the other is way up at Monaghan and Cavan and various F and N codes split the area.

    They're still not that challenging to remember though.


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    #515
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    The randomness that I'm referring to is the choice of prefix letters, not the area they cover which is obviously the sorting office that covers that area.


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    #516
    RobertKK
    Registered Users Posts: 33,730 ✭✭✭✭RobertKK


    Love Eircode, made life so much easier in the countryside for deliveries.


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    #517
    TheChizler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,437 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    Anecdotal but any time I've talked to someone who's struggled to remember their Eircode it's the second half they forget, not the first 3 letters. Doesn't really matter what initials the letters relate to, it's the mental act of partitioning them and knowing they relate to a wider group is what makes them memorable.

    I remember back in the day if someone was asking what phone network I was with (for sending free texts) they'd ask "you're 087 aren't you?" instead of asking was I with Vodafone.


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    #518
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,435 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Deleted User wrote: »
    In the UK, the first two letters have the name of a town associated to them so are easier to remember in that respect, the eircode has a random prefix that has no relation to the name of the town that has the sorting office, with the exception of Dublin that retained the old postal regional codes.
    But they're not, that's the point! For someone living in the small town I mentioned, Hawes, the letters DL, for Darlington a town 65km away, have as much relevance to them as XZ, or QG.


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    #519
    andrew1977
    Registered Users Posts: 3,089 ✭✭✭andrew1977


    In the past month, I had to call 3 tradesmen/service people to come to my house to do some jobs.

    Each asked for my eircode and arrived hassle free at my doorstep , I live in the country in a house with no number, and was always having to direct people to the house.

    Random number/random code , couldn't give a dam what format of it, it appears to be working as intended now.

    I now use my eircode on all deliveries/addresses I complete for online purchases.


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    #520
    murpho999
    Registered Users Posts: 28,437 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Deleted User wrote: »
    The randomness that I'm referring to is the choice of prefix letters, not the area they cover which is obviously the sorting office that covers that area.

    You don't need to remember them. Just look them up.

    Why do people think they know how eircodes work? Only people in the business do, and they use IT solutions.


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    #521
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Alun wrote: »
    But they're not, that's the point! For someone living in the small town I mentioned, Hawes, the letters DL, for Darlington a town 65km away, have as much relevance to them as XZ, or QG.
    Darlington is obviously their "post town", and their post arrives via Darlington, whether they like or not.


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    #522
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    murpho999 wrote: »
    You don't need to remember them. Just look them up.

    Why do people think they know how eircodes work? Only people in the business do, and they use IT solutions.


    :rolleyes:


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    #523
    Jakey Rolling
    Registered Users Posts: 918 ✭✭✭Jakey Rolling


    Greentree_uk wrote: »
    my postman can't even get the house numbers right, so he has no hope of understanding an eircode!

    Well, if his employer gave him an Internet enabled device with GPS (eg a smartphone) he'd be able to look up the Eircode and turn up on your doorstep.

    Or better still they load the Eircode database onto a dedicated device, so no Internet connection required.

    100412.2526@compuserve.com



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    #524
    murpho999
    Registered Users Posts: 28,437 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    Deleted User wrote: »
    :rolleyes:

    My point is that the randomness of the prefix, which are not really random, has no impact whatsoever.


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    #525
    Joshua J
    Registered Users Posts: 1,305 ✭✭✭Joshua J


    We hire out equipment up and down the West coast, based in Donegal. The eircode has been a godsend for finding houses in rural areas.


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    #526
    Bacchus
    Registered Users Posts: 4,699 ✭✭✭Bacchus


    No idea if the postman or couriers use the code or just the address on the parcel but I've had two tradespeople just ask for it to find me and I've used it a couple of times to find clients homes in Google maps. Works a treat.

    I know mine by heart and it doesn't bother me in the slightest that it is a random code, nor that I can't infer what my neighbours one is from my own.


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    #527
    Fann Linn
    Registered Users Posts: 7,778 ✭✭✭Fann Linn


    Bacchus wrote: »
    No idea if the postman or couriers use the code or just the address on the parcel but I've had two tradespeople just ask for it to find me and I've used it a couple of times to find clients homes in Google maps. Works a treat.

    I know mine by heart and it doesn't bother me in the slightest that it is a random code, nor that I can't infer what my neighbours one is from my own.

    Same here, just drop it into google drive and bingo!


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    #528
    Alun
    Registered Users Posts: 21,435 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Deleted User wrote: »
    Darlington is obviously their "post town", and their post arrives via Darlington, whether they like or not.

    Look, I know Darlington is their postal town, just as only a few km south of them, Bradford is their postal town, and slightly further to the west, either Lancaster or Preston is their postal town, I get that.

    But in the context of making remembering their own post code easier, which is the gist of this particular strand of the thread, it is totally irrelevant, it's just two letters. The town of Darlington probably hardly even enters their consciousness living in the centre of a National Park, so if someone finds themselves wondering what their postcode is they're not suddenly going to think, "Oh yes, we're 65km away from Darlington, a sh!thole that I never go to, my postcode must begin with DL!" are they?


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    #529
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    The system was obviously built with rural Ireland in mind and that's not a bad thing. For this reason, I can understand why they went with a random pattern rather then sequential, all it takes is a one-off house to be built in the middle of two existing houses and the sequence is out of whack. It's much handier than giving directions.


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    #530
    TheRiverman
    Registered Users Posts: 6,082 ✭✭✭TheRiverman


    Great system,unfortunately it's the humans that are creating problems with it.I know my code off by heart,and I use it as much as possible particularly for courier services,no more giving directions to my house when the delivery driver rings to let me know he or she is on their way.


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    #531
    Cienciano
    Registered Users Posts: 14,234 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    No idea why the start of this thread has such negativity towards it. It's dead handy for finding places. Probably will take a while before everone starts using it, but that's to be expected.


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    #532
    duffer247
    Registered Users Posts: 259 ✭✭duffer247


    Random point, whilst on holidays in Portugal I sent a postcard to myself with my name, eircode and country.
    It arrived
    I was impressed
    Bit sad I know!


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    #533
    KellyXX
    Registered Users Posts: 365 ✭✭KellyXX


    I love it.
    Now I can find anyone's house using my GPS.


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    #534
    MayoForSam
    Registered Users Posts: 2,266 ✭✭✭MayoForSam


    Yep, I have to say its grown on me, I have used it a few times to tell couriers/delivery men where I'm living out in the sticks and I have no problem remembering it either. Maybe Irish Water charges would have grown on people too.....


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    #535
    Un1corn
    Registered Users Posts: 124 ✭✭Un1corn


    I use it all the time now to send stuff to my parents. Mothers Name, A88 K8DN, Ireland. Job done. No need to write addresses anymore.


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    #536
    TheChizler
    Registered Users Posts: 9,437 ✭✭✭TheChizler


    Un1corn wrote: »
    I use it all the time now to send stuff to my parents. Mothers Name, A88 K8DN, Ireland. Job done. No need to write addresses anymore.
    That's not technically true, it's designed to be used in addition to the address. It'll probably get to the local distribution centre ok, but at some stage it'll get flagged and a human is going to have to intervene and write the address on manually for the postman who doesn't use the postcode (officially).


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    #537
    ytpe2r5bxkn0c1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 32,688 ✭✭✭✭ytpe2r5bxkn0c1


    Un1corn wrote: »
    I use it all the time now to send stuff to my parents. Mothers Name, A88 K8DN, Ireland. Job done. No need to write addresses anymore.

    You have no comeback if they fail to deliver, as Eircodes are most definitely not designed to replace a postal address for deliveries by An Post. They are actually going above and beyond if they do deliver post addressed that way.


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    #538
    WestWicklow1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,195 ✭✭✭WestWicklow1


    KellyXX wrote: »
    I love it.
    Now I can find anyone's house using my GPS.

    I'm still waiting for TomTom to get it right.

    What GPS are you using?


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    #539
    swampgas
    Registered Users Posts: 3,537 ✭✭✭swampgas


    Jaylah Low Kidnapper wrote: »
    You have no comeback if they fail to deliver, as Eircodes are most definitely not designed to replace a postal address for deliveries by An Post. They are actually going above and beyond if they do deliver post addressed that way.

    On top of that, if you get the eircode wrong or write it badly there is no way to figure out what it should be. And getting an eircode slightly wrong will mean that the address that comes out will be a long long way from what was intended, as this is how it's designed.

    A combination of address and eircode is the safest bet.


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    #540
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    swampgas wrote: »
    On top of that, if you get the eircode wrong or write it badly there is no way to figure out what it should be. And getting an eircode slightly wrong will mean that the address that comes out will be a long long way from what was intended, as this is how it's designed.

    A combination of address and eircode is the safest bet.
    Yes, you should always treat the eircode as a checksum when verifying addresses.


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    #541
    KellyXX
    Registered Users Posts: 365 ✭✭KellyXX


    WestWicklow1 wrote: »
    I'm still waiting for TomTom to get it right.

    What GPS are you using?


    Anything accept TomTom :)

    Google maps or Waze.


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