End of an era as North Mayo post office closes
Edel Shields, Pat Gannon and Sheila McDonagh are pictured outside Geesala Post Office last Wednesday as musician Naoise O'Mongáin plays a lament to mark its closure after almost 160 years. Picture: John O'Grady
The end of an era was marked in Geesala last Wednesday as the village post office closed its doors for the final time.
Opened in 1867, the post office served the north Mayo community for more than 150 years and was a vital hub for generations of local residents.
The closure comes after An Post was unable to find a postmaster to take over the role following the passing of Michael Henry in 2018. Mr Henry had served as postmaster in the village for 38 years. Pat Gannon, who runs Foxford Post Office and has family connections to Geesala Post Office, operated the facility since 2018 up to its closure.
Geesala-based councillor Gerry Coyle described the closure as the end of an important chapter in the village's history and said he was saddened to see it happen. He said the post office had been much more than a place to send and receive mail.
"It was a place of social connection and interaction, often times the staff were the only contact someone may have for the day,” he said.
Cllr Coyle paid tribute to Pat Gannon and staff members Sheila and Edel for their efforts in keeping the post office going following the passing of Mr Henry, who he described as a genius.
“We used to all be in awe at Michael’s ability to speedily add up the price of whatever your shop was, while informing you of the world’s current affairs, the GAA results and throwing in a cùpla focal as gaeilge at the same time. It feels like only yesterday that telephone calls would come through the post office exchange, facilitated by the Henry family,” he said.
Cllr Coyle said efforts in recent months by Mr Gannon, An Post and himself to find someone to take on the role of postmaster had ultimately been unsuccessful.
“I would have loved to have seen the Post Office taken over, but sadly that has not come to fruition at this time,” he said.
Despite the setback, Cllr Coyle encouraged anyone interested in taking on the role in the future to come forward, offering his support to anyone who believes they could “make a go” of becoming postmaster in Geesala.
“I would 100pc support your endeavours and help you in any way I can to directly communicate and work with An Post,” he said.
“For now at least, a chapter of history is closed and I for one am sad to see it closed,” he added.
