One of the oldest institutions of the State.
Its origins lie in the political and military turmoil of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when a system of communication became vital to English policy in Ireland.
Communication between London and Dublin was a slow and hazardous affair: boats were small, the sea passage was rough and the financial arrangements between the Government and the boat owners were such that captains would often sail only when additional cargo and passengers made it worth their while.
Post Roads:
No formal arrangement for the carriage of letters within Ireland existed until the establishment in the 1640's by Evan Vaughan, the postmaster in Dublin, of a staging system along the three main roads out of Dublin: south to Cork and Limerick, west to Galway and Sligo and north to Belfast and Londonderry. Post boys, on foot or on horseback, set out twice a week carrying official and commercial letters. Oliver Cromwell outlawed private postal services in 1657, establishing a State monopoly that has persisted, in some form, until today.
Eighteenth Century Developments:
The more peaceful conditions that obtained after the Williamite war allowed the Post Office in Ireland to expand. Local postmasters were appointed by the State, surveyors were charged with carrying out checks on the post boys and the network was extended. Tariffs remained high, however, so that the service continued to cater only for the wealthy and influential. A "Penny Post", operative within specified limits, was established in Dublin in 1773 but provincial towns had to wait until the 1830's. Following legislative independence in 1782, an independent Irish Post Office was set up in 1784. It lasted until 1831 when concerns over financial management prompted a return to control by a Postmaster General in London.
The Victorian Age:
The Victorian age saw the development of the modern Post Office. Railways won Post Office contracts for the carriage of mail, putting an end to the mail coach system which began in Ireland in 1789 and was much improved by the enterprising and popular Charles Bianconi. In 1840 uniform penny postage was introduced following Rowland Hill's success in convincing the Government that volumes and revenues would be increased by a reduction in tariffs. Post to rural areas was greatly extended, not least by the efforts of the novelist Anthony Trollope who spent several years working for the Post Office in Ireland. Gradually, the Post Office assumed a role as the principal, and generally benign, agent of Government throughout the country. Its services ranged from mail to banking (Post Office Savings Bank 1861) and from telegraphs and telephones to the payment of old age pensions (1909).
Independence
Following independence in 1922, the Department of Posts and Telegraphs gradually took on new agency work for the Departments of Social Welfare and Finance. Deliveries in rural areas were extended, motorised transport introduced and the telephone network expanded. The range of the Department's responsibilities led in the 1970's to plans for the break-up of the Department into two new State companies, one for telecommunications and the other for postal and agency services.
An Post
Since its establishment in 1984, An Post continues to meet and embrace new and rapidly changing commercial and technological environments as they emerge.
Competiton, the internet and email and new developments in financial services all mean great change for An Post but the Post Office continues to touch the lives of people throughout the country almost every day.