Irish national grid reference system

The Irish grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Ireland (both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). The Irish grid lies within the British grid, but uses a different co-ordinate system with a meridian more suited to the westerly location.

In general, neither Ireland nor Great Britain uses 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 of Ireland, the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland 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.

The Ordnance Survey of Ireland has implemented a new coordinate system for Ireland called Irish Transverse Mercator, or ITM, which will initially run in parallel with the existing Irish grid system. In both systems, the true origin is at 53° 30' N, 8° W — a point in Lough Ree, close to the western (Co. Roscommon) shore, whose grid reference is N 000 500.

The area of Ireland is divided into 25 squares, measuring 100 by 100 km (62 by 62 mi), each identified by a single letter. The squares are numbered A to Z with I being omitted. Seven of the squares do not actually cover any land in Ireland: A, E, K, P, U, Y and Z.

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