Search Results for 'General Post Office'

The regular use of the words ‘litir’ and ‘post’ in 15th century Irish manuscripts suggests that by that time a postal system was already in existence in Ireland. The English postal system was completely reformed by a man named Witherings in 1638 and he was then invited to do the same in Ireland. By the 1650s, mail was being carried by post boys who walked 16 to 18 miles a day between towns. It is believed the Galway Post Office was set up in 1653 when the Cromwellians were still here. In those early years, the local postmaster was expected to provide the premises, so every time a new postmaster was appointed, it meant a new main Post Office.

Postmasters have called on the general public to use their post office to sustain local services which support communities and businesses.

In a response to recent revelations indicating that up to 400 rural post offices could be facing closure, Deputy Colm Keaveney has remarked that closing these local services could prove detrimental for social and environmental costs. "It is critical that in dealing with our current fiscal difficulties that we remember that the calculation of the cost of any reforms must include external factors such as social or environmental costs. In this case, rural post offices form a vital part in our rural communities and the calculation of the savings from any reform must take the social costs of the closure of post offices into account.”

Records show that post office business has been conducted in the Eglinton Street area since the 1850s. The Ordnance Survey map of 1872 shows the ‘Postal and Telegraph Office’ in the house at the corner of Francis Street and Daly’s Place, where Emerson & Conway solicitors are today. Prior to 1885, the local postmaster Mr Cornwall provided the premises but, as business expanded, the building became too small. It could not accommodate parcels and a separate outside premises for a parcel office was rented at a cost of £15 a year.

The post office in Ballintubber will close from end of business today (Friday May 13).