Hi Brosie,
I am very curious about your post, forgive the pun.
My grandad's brother John McShane was a postman in Dundalk in 1911. In March 1915 he volunteered for duty with the British Army along with other post office workers in Dundalk to fight in the First World War, and most of them were killed.
There was an article about John and the other postmen volunteering and the big send off to the war in the Dundalk Herald, and Hall wrote about them in his book, "The Unreturned Army". Mr. P Cleggett was the Postmaster in 1915. Other Dundalk post office workers who went to war included B Carolan, J Matthews, J Callaghan, J Green, and J McEvoy. They fought with the London Regiment, the Post Office Rifles. John McShane was killed just before Christmas 1915, very sad. Were any of the names above your relative?
I have an old photograph which I have scanned of the postmen and post boys (31 of them) and post office women (4) in Dundalk together with a donkey and two bicycles, which dates before 1915, but I don't know who is who, and I have often wondered if all the names above are in the photograph. I think John is at the back sans the moustache and he looks younger than in 1915.
Regards R.
