PAINTED GREEN

What did the British Empire ever do for Ireland? One answer is that they left some top class street furniture and public parks and in general the government continued to use the inherited infrastructure but recently some of it is being neglected or badly maintained. In the case of post boxes, because of the decline in the custom of posting physical letters, one cannot be surprised that post boxes are disappearing or being decommissioned which is a pity.


Recently I read in a newspaper that there is now a campaign promoting the preservation of old post boxes here in Ireland and while I would support such a campaign I have not found any information online or elsewhere.


Apart from their decorative and utilitarian qualities, Irish post boxes have symbolic value to many. Before independence post boxes were red but one of the first acts of the new Irish Government was to order that green would be the new colour for Post Office letter boxes. Introduced well over 150 years ago by the novelist, Anthony Trollope, who worked for the Post Office in Ireland at the time, the letter box is an instantly recognised symbol of the Post Office and the service on offer.

The first boxes appeared on the streets of Dublin, Belfast and Cork over 150 years ago and were over an extended period introduced elsewhere. The large pillar boxes were soon joined by smaller structures that fitted into walls and later by lamp boxes which were cheaper to make and could be attached to lamp and telegraph poles [I do not remember ever seeing lamp boxes].