post box

Pier-mounted cast-iron letter box, installed c.1870. Moulded surround and rectangular door. Bearing royal insignia of Queen Victoria over sheltered aperture. Set into pier of gateway to Lisdoogan House.

Wall-mounted post-boxes were an inexpensive and less cumbersome alternative to pillar boxes and therefore popular, particularly in rural areas. The site type reflects the great dissemination of postal services for local communities around this time. It is an example of a functional items that was mass-produced in the latter decades of the nineteenth century. Its simple form is enhanced by raised royal insignia, which adds artistic and contextual interest, serving as a reminder of the earlier history of the postal service in Ireland as well as the country’s colonial past.