post box

Wall-mounted cast-iron postbox, cast c. 1940. Moulded surround to door, raised 'P&T' monogram. Set into concrete block-work to front of pier of former gateway.

The simple design of this postbox is enhanced by the raised monogram of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, which adds artistic interest and also places it within a post-Independence context. The use of Gaelic script is evocative of the desire to further a sense of national identity, and was popular for official purposes in the early years of the State. Wall-mounted postboxes were often used where the volume of post would not merit a freestanding pillar postbox, and the scale of this example is unusual. It may have been moved from an earlier location. It has been inserted into a pier which might have formed part of the original gate screen of Foxhall. This well preserved postbox is an interesting artifact, a subtle but appealing item of street furniture, and a reminder of the artisanship involved in the mass production of cast-ironwork in the early decades of the twentieth century.