Irish grid reference system

The Irish national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Ireland.

Usage

In general, Ireland (nor the United Kingdom) does not use latitude or longitude in describing internal geographic locations. Instead grid reference systems are in common usage.

The national grid referencing system was devised by the Ordnance Survey, and is heavily used in their survey data, and in maps (whether published by the Ordnance Survey or commercial map producers) based on those surveys. Additionally grid references are commonly quoted in other publications and data sources, such as guide books or government planning documents.

Grid Letters

The area of Ireland is divided into 25 squares, identified by a pair of letters, measuring 100km by 100km.

Eastings and Northings

Within each square, eastings and northings from the origin (south west corner) of the square are given numerically. For example, G0305 means 'square G, 3 km east, 5 km north'. A location can be indicated to varying resolutions numerically, usually from two digits in each coordinate (for a 1 km square) through to five (for a 1 m square); the most common usage is the six figure grid reference, employing three digits in each coordinate to determine a 100 m square.