Does Ireland Use Postcodes?

Kêrmêttê · 02-11-2004 12:11PM

Our old postman used to have a "route" for himself. We couldn't quite figure out what this was, but, our block of houses seemed to be the last stop of the day for him.
Any mail that he had overlooked that was still in his postbag used to get dumped into our letter box. The guy was too stupid to get it right, then too lazy to deliver the mail to the correct addressess when he found he'd got stuff left over.
My poor Dad was driven mental walking round the neighbourhood dropping off the miscellaneous mail to these random houses.
One day he lost it and went to the GPO and made a formal complaint. He wasn't the only one from our neighbourhood who did this btw.
Our mail was then checked from the sorting office every single morning for 6 months and some inspector initialled every individual letter with red pen before it went into the postmans delivery bag, (I'm not sure what the purpose of this was).
Still, stuff was going missing and being sent to incorrect addressess.
So, we ended up getting a new postman!

We are now usually getting the right mail... but it doesn't arrive til about 3pm in the afternoon...
Whatever happened to early morning post??!!

BTW, I live in the southside of Dublin... and when this mental looney of a postman was delivering to us we regularly got letters addressed to people in places like, Macroom, Cork City, Letterkenny, Sligo.
Surely the guy should have realised these were wrong and brought them back to the sorting office to be re-distributed??!!! :eek:

fozzle · 02-11-2004 01:09PM

Argh, postcodes drive me nuts, I can remember Irish addresses (usually) but if I've to send something to friends or family in England I've got to lookup the damn code every time.Our postal service in this country really isn't all that bad, and the wackier the address you use, the faster they seem to deliver stuff. I sent a postcard from Spain addressed to
*my aunt's name*
The house with the long driveway and the big trees
About 3 miles outside the north side of Thurles when you turn left at the Spar (it wasn't a spar)
Turles
Co Tipperary
Ireland

And she got it the same day as all the other ones I sent arrived. Except my parent's one, but they get post addressed to the wrong county (their post, mind you, just the addresses are wrong!)

embraer170 · 02-11-2004 03:47PM

Can whinge about a lot in this country but the postal system really isn’t one of them. Often had mail addressed to me totally wrongly (wrong street, wrong town) arrive safely and reasonably quickly.

fjon · 02-11-2004 04:02PM

I think a lot of other countries could scrap post codes too. I have sent post abroad plenty of times without a postcode (I didn't really know they existed until I was around 15!) and they have all arrived.
I even sent one to:

*friend's name*
Stirling University Student Residence
UK

I have sent postcards/ letters to Italy, Germany, Austria and Australia, and everyone of them arrived without any problems.

Victor · 02-11-2004 07:00PM

In the UK "99 XX9 9XX" an address in the format can be complete and adequate, just make sure you don't get anything wrong.

sceptre · 02-11-2004 10:11PM

mr_angry wrote:

Pah. I doubt anyone's going to go to Limerick to hunt him down.

Hmmmm

elivsvonchiaing · 03-11-2004 12:20AM

...Sweden changing from driving on left to driving on right... (not what I said but you know what I meant)

Victor wrote:

they did it during the day (so people don't forget when they got up in the morning). Would you have had them start on a phased first, first trucks and busses, then cars and vans and finally motorbikes and cyclists?

Eh No :rolleyes: I would imagine an interval before the changeover only left-hand drive vehicles became available for purchase probably 2 - 3 years. I concede such a planning element makes "overnight" metaphoric, but semantically from a drivers perspective this is literally what happened.
{Elivs stops and sobs - "I've just slayed Victor's sarcastic creation!- sob!" - opens fridge gets beer - Glug - "Ahh whatever!"

}

embee · 03-11-2004 01:10AM

In fairness, the postcode system would be markedly less successful in Ireland than it would be in the UK, for the simple reason that Ireland has a much larger percentage of its population living in rural areas.

My Dad has often told me of three different people, living on the same tiny country lane, who all have the same name, and he has devised a system where all three, by and large, receive all of their own mail and no one elses.

Say they are all called Patrick Murphy and they all live in Green Lane, Rathkean, Ardee, Co. Louth. Thats the middle of nowhere, its merely a tiny cluster of about 8 houses. How the hell does he decide? He actually does it based on the type of mail they receive, where the mail has come from, and in what envelopes. Were Ireland to get postcodes, that lane would be all the one postcode, so they really wouldnt work.

elivsvonchiaing · 03-11-2004 01:37AM

embee wrote:

Say they are all called Patrick Murphy and they all live in Green Lane, Rathkean, Ardee, Co. Louth. Thats the middle of nowhere, its merely a tiny cluster of about 8 houses. How the hell does he decide? He actually does it based on the type of mail they receive, where the mail has come from, and in what envelopes. Were Ireland to get postcodes, that lane would be all the one postcode, so they really wouldnt work.

Concede problems in rural areas... But he would still have the same information: the origin of the mail and the envelope + the "useless" in this case post-code. He would still know that Patrick Murphy (minister of the Eucharist) would be not be the appropriate recipient of a black parcel posted from Amsterdam with no originating company's logo on it. The "Catholic yearbook" with an publishers logo and address posted from Norwich - would probably seem the more likely choice.

The postcode could actually be useful if it was as exact as the UK assuming - holy patrick lived on the opposite side of the lane as god's-gift patrick.

embee · 03-11-2004 01:51AM

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

Concede problems in rural areas... But he would still have the same information: the origin of the mail and the envelope + the "useless" in this case post-code. He would still know that Patrick Murphy (minister of the Eucharist) would be not be the appropriate recipient of a black parcel posted from Amsterdam with no originating company's logo on it. The "Catholic yearbook" with an publishers logo and address posted from Norwich - would probably seem the more likely choice.

The postcode could actually be useful if it was as exact as the UK assuming - holy patrick lived on the opposite side of the lane as god's-gift patrick.

Thats grand when its clear cut people like "Patrick Murphy minister of the Eucharist", but in reality, its not that easy to guess. Its not like he gets three different letters that, just by looking at the envelope, he can 100% identify which Patrick Murphy they are for. He has had to make guesses initially. Now, after 25 or so years, he gets it right 99% of the time.

They still wouldnt work though.

elivsvonchiaing · 03-11-2004 02:27AM

Embee - I fail to see your point. Is it this: everthing as it was - now more information - he has to make guesses he has more information - and is this what confuses him? :eek: I do not see the logic of how this could work in suburbia without impacting on rural areas :eek:

I agree it may prove useless in rural lane-ways. However, I'll say this - since we as a country have been post-code-less for so long -we are technologically ready (just not culturally ready) for an information exchange of An Bord Pleanalla, OPW, An post - a galaxy of others... ok it would need group of TDs with balls to implement it - but we could have a post-code system that uniquely identifies an address that's older than we'll say 2 years - a suffix could indicate to a postman - your warm - though may not be built yet! You should bury your anti-post-code prejudice in the past!

All that said I think the legality of exact address is what puts people off the post-code thing.

I live in terror of brown envelopes with no money in them with a harp on them

Diagio use white envelopes -hint. The RCs.

Its not so bad when you get "we got your payment of .."- it's more "our auditor's will be in attendance on your premises on ... "aw jesus - root canal anyday in preference!

I don't use the address I live for tax purposes. Cos too much post has gone missing. I'd rather have bad news up front. I instead use my parent's address.

We need a postcode. I get stuff for a guy in Skerries regularly - sure he get's mine - similar address names. We need a postcode. that's a full-stop period!

embee · 03-11-2004 02:45AM

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

Embee ....... You should bury your anti-post-code prejudice in the past!

Christ on a bike!

I didn't realise I was oppressing your RIGHT to have a postcode! OMG, I am so sorry! :rolleyes:

dead air · 03-11-2004 02:45AM

post codes would probably just cost a lot to implement at this stage, I'd reckon that an post just wouldn't welcome that cost right now.

You can see how they would be handy in the more urban areas for locating places. A simple post code system would be useful for people unfamilar with places in our country and wouldn't just benefit post office workers but many people in other services, for example... I worked in directory enquires for a while with callers from both the UK and Ireland. For UK searchs, I could ask for a post code if I didn't recognise the town or village name and I could tell quite accurately where its located. Now, with irish listings, callers ring in with vague townland names telling you the person lives 15 minutes from tobercurry. fecking nightmare.

elivsvonchiaing · 03-11-2004 03:39AM

embee wrote:

Christ on a bike!

I didn't realise I was oppressing your RIGHT to have a postcode! OMG, I am so sorry! :rolleyes:

I don't have the RIGHT to a postcode I agree. Again: Suggestion: Post Code - phased - in - your da can ignore it - long phase in - 20-30 years - it will be needed - it WILL happen!

Coulndn't give a fish's tit anyhow as I won't be back here for 18 years! Cya all!
Bye....

Aw ****! The mass-reflux-refusion cowl has failed on my ship. Does anyone know how to fix one of these: Manufacturer:Adams Sytems, Adamski, M87a (lover's leap)...

OK i'm beginning to get the picture here... Do you earthlings demand that I have a haircut like your David Bowie?

embee · 03-11-2004 03:47AM

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

I don't have the RIGHT to a postcode I agree. Again: Suggestion: Post Code - phased - in - your da can ignore it - long phase in - 20-30 years - it will be needed - it WILL happen!

Coulndn't give a fish's tit anyhow as I won't be back here for 18 years! Cya all!
Bye....

Aw ****! The mass-reflux-refusion cowl has failed on my ship. Does anyone know how to fix one of these: Manufacturer:Adams Sytems, Adamski, M87a (lover's leap)...

OK i'm beginning to get the picture here... Do you earthlings demand that I have a haircut like your David Bowie?

What?!

Trojan · 03-11-2004 03:50AM

Don't mess with 78701.

boo4842 · 03-11-2004 05:36AM

Ireland is behind on a lot of things, but the postal system is actually pretty good. You mail something on Monday and they recieve it on Tuesday. Can't complain about that.

I now live in Canada and the postal codes are LXP1A3 for example. At least the US are a litle easier to remember and less specific. Then again if you go to a site like mapquest you can pinpoint an address using just a postal code to within a few houses.

It can take a week to get something that was posted accross the street here though, and makes me miss the Irish postal system. The Canadian postal system just put in a new rule that no post will be delivered that does not the persons first, last and middle initial on it. WTF? If a kid writes a letter to their nana and does not know their nana's first name? ITs getting returned. :rolleyes:

Victor · 03-11-2004 09:33PM

embee wrote:

Say they are all called Patrick Murphy and they all live in Green Lane, Rathkean, Ardee, Co. Louth.

Sekrit idead

O_o, how about we implement house numbers!!!

vector · 22-11-2004 12:05AM

Victor wrote:

[Cork]In the city only

North East - 1
North West - 3
South East - 2
South West - 4A...

That is news to me
I've never seen Cork 2 or similar, the only thing I've seen is that the City
is "Cork" or "Cork City" and the county is "Co Cork"

On a larger scale... I did search on postcodes for Ireland and found this
http://homepages.iol.ie/~discover/mail.htm

"...Town (prefix the town with "IE" if item is mailed within Europe)" for example

The Avalon Hotel
223 BURLINGTON ROAD
IE DUBLIN 4

Never seen that either in real life.

Bogger77 · 22-11-2004 12:18AM

Victor wrote:

they did it during the day (so people don't forget when they got up in the morning). Would you have had them start on a phased first, first trucks and busses, then cars and vans and finally motorbikes and cyclists?

Sweden was in the strange situation, of driving on the left, like us, with the sterring wheel on the the left of the car, like cont. Europe. Also,, there's the fact of land borders to right driving countries. it made sense to chance.

Imagine, if we switched, and Northern Ireland didn't, it'd be crazy.

vector · 22-11-2004 12:31AM

IMHO Ireland will switch. As Europe becomes more integrated, harmonisation, compliance etc... all the keywords... plus the US drives on the left.

Problem is what about the new roads here, with fly overs all pointing in the wrong direction.

That said, perhaps Ireland will not switch, drive by wire steering which will surely become the norm will reduce the economic arguments of LHD > RHD manufacturer conversions. Maybe Lancia will reenter the market?

hmmmm......

Capt'n Midnight · 22-11-2004 12:38AM

Osku-82 wrote:

No postcodes... That's really weird. Well I'm too confused with the system they use in London. That makes no sense. I/QUOTE]It was done in a hurry during WWI - all the sorters were sent off to the trenches and so they simply did it all alphabetically so lots of mismatches at this stage.

Does Ireland Use Postcodes?

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