post box

Freestanding circular-profile cast-iron pillar box with plinth base, installed c.1885. Moulded neck, dentilated frieze, plinth, and domed cap. Curved hinged door, aperture to neck. Maker’s mark to front (east) of plinth base. Set into concrete paving of footpath.

This attractive piece of street furniture represents the high quality of mass-produced cast-iron work in the nineteenth century, and the recognisable form and simple detailing illustrate the artistic qualities of even functional pieces of street furniture. Prominently sited outside Heuston Station, it provides an interesting focal point on the streetscape. The small letter aperture set high in the neck of the box, and the lack of insignia indicates that this is an 'anonymous box', cast by Andrew Handyside and Company from 1879 onwards, and so called as the door did not have an insignia. This pillar box continues to fulfil its original function and is testimony to the robust quality of manufacture, with pillar boxes such as this becoming increasingly rare in Ireland.