Post boxes
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I’m not sure what made me think of this, but anyway…
The Royal Mail was established during the long reign of Queen Victoria, and thus we see a lot of postboxes with her “VR” seal on them. There are also a fair few “ER” examples from Edward’s reign in the inner suburbs. However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with the “GR” seal that would identify George V. Has anyone seen one, or had the policy changed by 1910 (perhaps to using the city seal)?
I’ve seen a few, alright. It used to be my job to see them, so I was paying particular attention. Can’t think of any precise locations, though, I’m afraid.
There is a good variety of ciphers/insignias/callthemwhatyouwant on postboxes- one of the rarer ones is S.E. for Saorstat Eireann. There’s a wall-mounted box in Monaghan town bearing this lettering.
My favourite boxes in the country, though, are the hexagonal pillar postboxes from the Victorian era- same lettering, but smaller and far more decorative than the standard pillar postboxes. Acorn finials, beading around the base of the cap, etc. I’ve heard there are 6 in the whole country, of which I know the locations of four. It’s a bit of a personal quest.:)
PS I think there was a thread a while back (a good while, now) where this was discussed in a bit of detail. I’m not having a go- just saying that if you wanted to do a search (I haven’t the time right now) you might find more.
Andrew-
Here’s the thread I was thinking of: https://archiseek.com/content/showthread.php?t=4353Yes I believe there’s a George V box or two in Dundalk also – will check it out.
In Dublin they’re certainly pretty rare. I imagine it’s because the Post Office invested heavily in post offices and boxes in a major national upgrading project (presumably via OPW) around 1900-1910, so George’s later reign lost out in the insignia department.A nice later box here at the junction of Lower Mount Street (all attendant clutter had to be cropped out :rolleyes: )
Also the late Victorian box as recently featured on Dartmouth Square South:
Agreed about the lovely Victorian boxes, often forgotton about. The rounded pillar box is a comparitively recent innovation.
…though according to An Post the Penfold’s weren’t great in the practicality department.
http://www.anpost.ie/AnPost/MainContent/About+An+Post/History/about-postboxes.htm
Salthill?! That makes five! Only one more to go.
I knew New Ross already (pic in the link Graham posted), along with Galway city, Skibbereen, and a house in Kilmacanogue in Wicklow which has one as its domestic box! I glimpsed it one day as we were driving up a winding, hilly road and couldn’t quite believe my eyes- still must go back to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
That Salthill one looks quite stubby, though- is the pic a bit distorted, I wonder?
And I noticed recently while passing through New Ross that the hotel in front of which the New Ross box stands is up for sale- I hope the box doesn’t get ‘lost’ in the process.
Lastly, the rarest box I know of stands in the train station in Cork city- I think it;s the only one of its kind in the country.
For the curious, today I found more info on boxes here, from which page the Letter Box Study Group homepage can be found.
I know abit irrelevant from the topic, even though I love our old post boxes, but when are we to get post codes? I thought we were to have them by now, have they scrapped the idea? Is there some sort of protection order on the old post boxes? I wouldn’t mind seeing a few reproductions around the place, especially those hexagonal ones.
Do we need postal codes? I always thought Dublin and Ireland were both small enough to get away with not needing them.
Anyone who might possess pictures of post-independence boxes, could you please put em p? There’s a lovely one near UCD that I’ll take a snap of tomorrow, with the decorative ‘Posts and Telegraphs’ cipther.
Green-painted post boxes; a symbol of the free state if ever there was one!!@ctesiphon wrote:
There is a good variety of ciphers/insignias/callthemwhatyouwant on postboxes- one of the rarer ones is S.E. for Saorstat Eireann. There’s a wall-mounted box in Monaghan town bearing this lettering.
Just noticed this morning that there is one at the Junction of Inchicore Road & Sarsfield Road in Inchicore.
The detail is a bit obscured by years of paint.Was on walkies during lunch hour yesterday and took a couple of pics with the mentioned Inchicore SE post boxes. Well here they are, if anyone’s interested. Taken with camera phone.
GrahamYup- that’s the one. Thanks. Looking at it afresh, I don’t remember the Monaghan one having a crown over the slot. Leads me to wonder whether this isn’t, say, a Victorian box with a replacement door, or even just an SE cipher stuck onto a Voctorian door- the SE looks slightly crooked, which would suggest the latter is a possibility. Hmmm…
@A-ha wrote:
Is there some sort of protection order on the old post boxes?
The NIAH includes postboxes in its surveys, as it does for much street furniture. This was certainly the case with the town surveys a few years ago. Whether it’s still done for the broader-brush county surveys I don’t know. An of course, whether the councillors decide to accept the recommendations of the NIAH is another question altogether.
There’s another relevant point here- that An Post sometimes moves post boxes around the place, so there’s no guarantee that a box today is in its original location. It made me think perhaps boxes should be tagged or given a code to assist in their protection/classification etc. Maybe An Post has already done this? I’d be curious to know if they have a full list. Not that I’m a box-nerd or anything…:o
Isn’t it just – it must be very rare.
The relic that is the crown emblem is particularly interesting, suggesting as you say ctesiphon that the S
Think you have a point there ctesiphon
Post Box with mixed Loyalties in Sligo 🙂 SE & Edward VII
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=images&county=SL®no=32401408but the pull handle on the one in Inchicore is more like the one on this Victorian example
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=images&county=SL®no=32007013But the crown is most likely George V
http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=images&county=SL®no=32314014@LOB wrote:
Think you have a point there ctesiphon
Post Box with mixed Loyalties in Sligo 🙂 SE & Edward VII
but the pull handle on the one in Inchicore is more like the one on this Victorian exampleNice detective work.:)
Interesting too to note the updated ‘cipher’ on the Victorian one…;)Paul-
I’ll have to check the archive for a print photo. I think I still have one.
From a quick check of a map of Monaghan town centre, I’d guess it was Mill Street or thereabouts. Certainly west (?) of the courthouse.
I’ll see what I can find.I cannot place a postbox on Mill Street apart from the Post Office.. could be the bottom of Park Street where the “brothers’ steps” are. There is one there, no sure if it is still in use though
Could be it- I seem to remember the box being pretty dilapidated.
I have seen a couple of threads that reference pillar style post boxes in Dublin. I am interested to find out if anyone knows of a list, or can tell me where I can locate any boxes left over from British rule, or “SE” style boxes, that are located within the city of Dublin. I leave for Dublin Wednesday morning, and would like to photograph some of the boxes while I am there.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Eric Lafferty
Hi Eric,
If you’re staying in the city centre, there should be older pillar post boxes nearby. A good number of our boxes still bear royal ciphers as the photos here attest.
As far as I know, there isn’t a comprehensive list (see my post #11 above), and the NIAH surveys mentioned above don’t yet include Dublin city or county. But look at the link in post #4 above for some leads, perhaps.
Are you looking for any particular type of box? There are no hexagons in Dublin, but there are a few other unusual types such as the double box – for ‘Dublin’ and ‘All Other Places’ – on Dame Street. If you’re sticking to the Georgian parts of town, you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding what you’re after.Paul-
I haven’t forgotten about you, just been run off my feet lately. I’ll be back soon.
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