Cork postmaster: I remember when my mother sold her very first stamp here...

LADYSBRIDGE postmaster Denis O’Flynn can remember when his mother sold the first stamp at the premises in 1982.

“Fran Power was a local pensioner, and I was standing behind the post office counter with my mother, Margaret, I was about 21 years old. It was a big thing for the family,” says Denis, the second youngest of four.

“The sale of a stamp was a new enterprise.”

He remembers delivering his first telegram.

“I was about 10 and Dick Whyte was the postmaster down further in the village around the corner,” says Denis.

“I went in for a stamp and Dick said, ‘Would you deliver a telegram to Daunts for me?’”

Denis was tempted. It paid well.

“You got paid twice, up and down!” he says.

“I remember Dick put the money in an envelope when I came back, and he folded it.

“‘Mind that now’, he said.”

Denis was used to being on the road.

“I was working as a sales representative all over Munster,” he says.

I was appointed postmaster in October, 1984. It was a big change being on-site.

But he was on familiar ground.

“I grew up in the post office and the shop. I remember selling petrol for 37p a gallon!”

Back in the ’80s, Thursdays and Fridays were the busiest days in the post office.

“Retirement pension was paid out on Thursdays and the social benefits on a Friday. Children’s allowance day, Tuesdays, was also a very busy day.

“My sister, Greta, helped out until she got married. The family all helped out growing up.”

Denis’s services were appreciated.

“Timmy Ryan, a pensioner, used to say, ‘Isn’t the post office great? I came out with more than I came in with’.

“He’d say to the person next to him, ‘Isn’t Denis great!’”

Back in the day, telegrams were a popular way to relay news.

“Typically, a telegram would be sent in the event of a death or a birth,” says Denis, who is married to Margaret. The couple have three children.

“Often, people who had no phones and who had hospital appointments would be alerted by telegram.

“Politicians used telegrams to contact their constituents about dates of meetings, and when they would be in the area.”

Time was of the essence.

“We’d deliver telegrams within the half-hour,” recalls Denis.

There was always something happening in the post office.

“During election time, there would be pandemonium because we had the list of electors, known as the register then, and we’d get lots of enquiries as to who registered to vote.”

Post was a big deal too.

“The post was heavy, we’d get a big bag out every day,” says Denis.

“The postman at the time would come from Midleton, start in Clonmult, go on to Dungourney, to Mogeely, then Ladysbridge, and Castlemartyr, finally to Little Island.

Money, by way of postal orders, would go to the missions and the Sacred Heart in Cork. The amount was already pre-determined, 50p or a pound for instance.

The postman had an early start.

“I remember the postman, Paul Reidy, was very obliging,” says Denis.

“If someone came in for a stamp at 5.30am, he would wait for the letter so he could deliver it. Customer service was big in the old days.”

Times changed when Denis moved to a new premises on the main street. He joined Mace in 2006.

“We moved over to a new building in 1996 that I designed myself,” says Denis.

“We had more passing trade and business increased. In the ’90s, people built their own homes and they tended to stay local, families were increasing.”

What does Denis like about the post office, running it now for well over three decades?

“I love meeting people,” he says.

People have time to stop and talk when they come to the post office.

The post office is a hotline for news.

“Being the shopkeeper and the postmaster, people would know you’d pass on the news,” says Denis.

“There was no guilt, there was always the feeling of trust.”

What kind of news would be passed on?

“You’d be asked if you heard a local person had died and you’d be informed of the time of the removal.

“If Mary had a child, the news would be passed on to a neighbour and you’d be told the weight of the child.

“News was passed on by word of mouth,” says Denis.

Mondays brought other conversation.

“People would come in, elbows on the counter, and discuss the match from the day before. The milkman had a bit of a wait on Monday mornings!”

Denis had another role.

“I’m a referee, so I had help from Bernie McQuire and Frances O’Sullivan, who were both with me for a good while. They’d lend a hand if a match was on.

“Now, Nina, Ger and other capable part-timers all lend a hand in the shop and in the post office.”

Automation arrived too.

“When automation came, there was a lot more services on offer,” says Denis.

“Bill pay, savings, banking and applications for a landline were all part of the service.

“A lot of form-filling ensued and we were glad to help fill out application forms for people.

I’d fill out the relevant form and the customer would sign it - again it was a matter of trust. 

"There was no problem swapping personal details. The post office was the place to go to get the job done.”

When the modern era arrived, parcel post became a big thing.

“Not so much letters, but parcels,” says Denis.

Sometimes he is in for a surprise.

“I sold two TV licences this week!” says Denis, laughing.

In this current climate?

“Yes, that’s right!”

Denis says the local post office is still a link between the communities.

“An Post has an identity that stands for something,” he says.

“It stands more for something other than buying as stamp. Everyone behind the counter is trusted and everyone who comes in is treated the same.”

The same age-old tradition of sending Christmas cards still carries on.

“People love the book of Christmas stamps when they get 21 for the price of 20, which is a nice touch at Christmas. It seems to be an amazing incentive to post Christmas cards to family and friends.”

Denis says the role of the post office is vital.

“The post office will last a long time,” says Denis.

The location here is great and there are a huge number of houses in the village. The post office is going from strength to strength.

The rural post office is a valuable asset across the country.

“The post office remains a popular venue,” says Denis.

“It adds to the health of a community.”