1910 – Post Office and Bank, Foynes, Co. Limerick

Around 1900, working on a commission from local landowner Lord Monteagle, Francis Inigo Thomas designed a Market Square for Foynes, with 20 shops and cottages centred on an arcaded market house. This would face a bank and post office. Lord Monteagle had wanted to turn Foynes into an urban centre that would be at the centre of the social and economic life of the port and the surrounding areas. Sadly, the scheme was never realised, apart from the building that now houses the Post Office and Health Centre in Foynes.

This building was designed by William Clifford Smith as a Post Office and Bank in an Edwardian freestyle. The characteristic features include the rusticated arch, the overhanging eaves, the windows arrangement, with rusticated limestone walls to the ground floor contrasting with the rendered upper floor.