post box

Freestanding cast-iron pillar post-box on circular-plan, erected 1922-46. Cylindrical drum with moulded necking having dentilled frieze, projecting letter slot, moulded and slightly projecting base, and having shallow domed capping over. Foundry stamp to base now illegible. P&T motif to base of door. Erected on footpath to the west of the centre of Lifford.

An attractive item of street furniture that represents an early surviving artefact of mass-produced cast-iron ware and street furniture. The modest design of the pillar box is enhanced by the various decorative moulded detailing, such as the fluted cap, and by the raised lettering, which enliven this otherwise functional object. The raised ' P&T' motif (Department of Posts and Telegraphs) in Celtic Revival-style script adds additional interest. Although the foundry mark is now illegible, this pillar box was probably cast by the Carron Company of Stirlingshire, Scotland, who were responsible of many such post boxes in Ireland. This prominently-sited pillar box now acts a subtle and well-made historical artefact, adding aesthetic incident to the streetscape to the west of the centre of Lifford. It is one of the few pillar boxes still surviving in County Donegal.