post box

Freestanding circular-profile cast-iron pillar box, installed c.1935. Raised insignia of P&T to front (west) elevation, moulded neck, dentilated frieze, plinth base and shallow domed cap. Curved door with aperture. Maker’s mark “CARRON COMPANY / STIRLINGSHIRE” to rear (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 early years of the twentieth century, making a pleasant but discreet contribution to the streetscape. The insignia, representing the national Posts & Telegraphs service, dates the box to the early years of the Irish State and provides decorative as well as contextual interest, representing the promotion of an indigenous national identity by the newly independent state. Supplied by the Carron Company of Stirlingshire, it is indicative of the continuity of design right through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, until the adoption of rectangular steel post boxes in more recent decades. The letter slot to the door was part of the continuing development of the design, as the higher placed letter aperture caused post to get stuck.