\input zb-basic \input zb-ioport \iteman{io-port 01002527} \itemau{Shokrollahi, M.A.} \itemti{Stickelberger codes.} \itemso{Des. Codes Cryptography 9, No.2, 203-213 (1996).} \itemab Summary: Let $p$ be an odd prime and $\zeta_p$ be a primitive $p$th root of unity over $\bbfQ$. The Galois group $G$ of $K:=\bbfQ(\zeta_p)$ over $\bbfQ$ is a cyclic group of order $p-1$. The integral group ring $\bbfZ[G]$ contains the Stickelberger ideal $S_p$ which annihilates the ideal class group of $K$. In this paper we investigate the parameters of cyclic codes $S_p(q)$ obtained as reductions of $S_p$ modulo primes $q$ which we call Stickelberger codes. In particular, we show that the dimension of $S_p(p)$ is related to the index of irregularity of $p$, i.e., the number of Bernoulli numbers $B_{2k}$, $1\leq k\leq (p-3)/2$, which are divisible by $p$. We then develop methods to compute the generator polynomial of $S_p(p)$. This gives rise to a new algorithm for the computation of the index of irregularity of a prime. As an application we show that 20,001,301 is regular. This significantly improves a previous record of 8,388,019 on the largest explicitly known regular prime. \itemrv{~} \itemcc{} \itemut{irregular primes; Stickelberger ideal; cyclic codes} \itemli{} \end