Area Code 94 – Castlebar/Claremorris/Castlerea/Ballinrobe

Geographic Coverage and Administrative Jurisdiction

The Irish area code 094 is a geographic National Destination Code (NDC) assigned to the western region of County Mayo and parts of County Roscommon. It serves the administrative towns of Castlebar (the county town of Mayo), Claremorris, Ballinrobe, and Castlerea (in Roscommon). The code covers a predominantly rural catchment area, including surrounding villages and townlands. The numbering area is defined by ComReg, the Irish telecommunications regulator, and corresponds to the historical exchange boundaries of the region.

Dialing Formats and Number Structure

Within Ireland, calls to 094 numbers are dialed as 094 XXX XXXX (where the subscriber number is seven digits, often written as three groups: e.g., 094 90 12345). Internationally, callers must use the country code for Ireland, +353, and drop the leading trunk prefix '0'. Thus, the international format becomes +353 94 XXX XXXX. For example, a local number in Castlebar might be 094 90 12345; from abroad you would dial +353 94 90 12345.

Caller Instructions

• Local callers (within Ireland): Always dial the full national number including the trunk prefix '0' (e.g., 094 90 12345).
• International callers: Dial your country's international access code (e.g., 00 from most European countries, 011 from the US/Canada), followed by Ireland's country code 353, then the area code without the leading zero, and the subscriber number (e.g., 00 353 94 90 12345).
• Mobile callers in Ireland: When dialing a geographic number from a mobile phone, the same national format applies (094 XXX XXXX).

Overlay and Numbering Considerations

As of the latest ComReg numbering plan, there is no overlay code for the 094 area; the code is unique to this geographic region. However, number portability allows subscribers to retain their 094 numbers when switching between fixed-line operators, provided they remain within the same geographic area. This means that a number starting with 094 does not necessarily indicate a specific physical exchange, but it still corresponds to the geographic charging rate for fixed-line calls.

Historical and Technical Context

The 094 code was introduced as part of the 1990s restructuring of Irish area codes, which standardized the national numbering plan to the current format. It replaced earlier local exchange codes that were shorter and less uniform. The region is served by both copper-based PSTN lines and modern fiber-optic infrastructure, with VoIP services also available. For VoIP users, the geographic number remains tied to the area for emergency services routing (E112) and for regulatory compliance.