Local anger over Ardrahan post office closure

Residents in a South Galway village are willing to challenge current restrictions on public gatherings to protest over the decision to close their post office – after more than 180 years in business.

Householders in Ardrahan are furious with An Post for not agreeing to renew the licence in the village after the existing operators announced they would no longer be providing the service.

The decision marks the end of an era as the Taylors are the longest serving postmaster family in any post office across Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

It is all because Ardrahan does not fit An Post’s stringent criteria for reissuing a licence to provide a post office service – the minimum requirement is 500 residents within the village limits.

But local councillor PJ Murphy says that while there are not that population within the village limits, there are around 700 houses in the vicinity and 2,100 people living in the parish.

He warned that many were willing to protest for the retention of this service which would be transferred to Gort when the Postmistress Margaret Taylor soon retires after a long career.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune – on sale in all newsagents and supermarkets, and you can also order the Tribune with your home delivery; buy a digital edition here, or avail of the new An Post service to deliver to your door at no extra cost to the cover price.