Nine Irish families with same name make for postal chaos

A rural community is devising its own system to help the postman distinguish between nine families that share the same surname.

In the small Donegal townland of Ballinacor near Crossroads, Killygordon, live nine Carlin families, including four men called John Carlin.



Finally reaching the end of his tether after receiving a bill which was not for him, John J Carlin approached the local community group, Crossroads and Killygordon Enterprise (CAKE), to ask if they could find a solution to the Carlin problem.

He has lived in Ballinacor all his life and is delighted that the CAKE committee is now working on a system to ensure that each house will have its own unique number.