Survey Data
Reg No
50030333
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Social, Technical
Original Use
Post box
In Use As
Post box
Date
1940 - 1980
Coordinates
320012, 237115
Date Recorded
01/12/2014
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding cast-iron pillar postbox, erected c. 1960. Shallow domed cap with dentillated rim, moulded neck and plinth. 'P&T' monogram in Gaelic script to door to front (south-west) face, maker's insignia to rear of plinth: 'G.L. Murphy Ireland Ltd Gorey'. Set to concrete footpath within residential area.
Appraisal
This is an interesting item of street furniture, which manifests the artisanship involved in the mass-production of cast-ironware in the early twentieth century. Moulded detailing and lettering subtly enliven what might otherwise have been a solely utilitarian object. The 'P&T' cipher represents the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, and indicates that this postbox was cast in the post-Independence era, the Gaelic script suggestive of a desire to foster a sense of national pride. Unusually, this box was cast by an Irish company, whose insignia to the rear lends contextual interest to the piece, and indicates that it was cast between the late 1940s and 1981, when G.L. Murphy Ltd was in operation. It is an aesthetically pleasing focal point on the streetscape.