Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and its Postcards

Concise message on a postcard

The golden age of postcards dated from the late 1890s until about 1914. Postcards were a very popular method of communication. One reason for this was the small space on the back of them for writing messages. Communications had to be short and concise. It proved a lot less tedious than letter writing and so appealed to everyone. Such was the speed of deliveries at the time (sometimes up to six per day) that people could make arrangements to meet up on the day they sent the postcard

Image acquired from The Collectors' Shop, Blackrock.

Concise message on a postcard
Image acquired from The Collectors' Shop, Blackrock.

Concise message on a postcard

The golden age of postcards dated from the late 1890s until about 1914. Postcards were a very popular method of communication. One reason for this was the small space on the back of them for writing messages. Communications had to be short and concise. It proved a lot less tedious than letter writing and so appealed to everyone. Such was the speed of deliveries at the time (sometimes up to six per day) that people could make arrangements to meet up on the day they sent the postcard

Image acquired from The Collectors' Shop, Blackrock.

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The golden age of postcards, as already mentioned, ran from 1898-1914 approximately and that is when the bulk of this postcard collection for the county dates from. The area covered by this county is between the (Dublin) mountains and the sea, a phrase used by Peter Pearson as the title of his comprehensive history of the county.

Blackrock, Dalkey, Killiney and Dun Laoghaire, each of which had their own urban district councils during the nineteenth century, coalesced into the old Borough of Dun Laoghaire in 1930. When Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown came into existence in 1994, they became included with parts of the old Dublin County Council to form the new county.

The images chosen illustrate a way of life that has since changed. They give indications about building styles, transport methods, administrational facilities, recreation and the changing landscape of an area. Postcards provide invaluable information about the history (physical, social and cultural) of places.

There were a number of reasons for the rapid spread of this method of communication. A postcard and a stamp cost less than two pence and so were available to all. There were sometimes as many as six deliveries daily in Dublin.

This meant that people could post a card in the morning and it would be delivered that same day. Messages on postcards were short and concise and less tedious then letter writing.

Overall the postcard was proving to be a cost-effective, reliable, simple method of communication.