INTERVIEW: John Morrissey - the much loved Postmaster on his Cashel years

John Morrissey loved his time in Cashel Post Office and the people he served loved him. The popular Bansha man reecntly stepped away from his role at the heart of life in the Tipperary town and from near and far people prasied his kindness, genuineness and easy manner.

The new Post Office is in Morrissey’s Supervalu but the old one, across the road, will forever be tinged with memory by those who set foot in the quaint building. The end of an era for John who has spent many years in the business: ‘I started off in the Post Office in 1985.

“I had been in building sites in London and places like that for a couple of years before that and I got the job as a trainee Post Office Clerk at the time.

“When I got the call it was an opportunity to come home at the time because there wasn’t much around at the time so it was my chance to come home. There was not a whole lot of work going in 1985.

“I was sent to Mallow to train as a Post Office Clerk. There was about 12 of us there, mostly from Cork and we learned the finer points of what was involved. We were sent then to different directions.

“I was sent to Drogheda and was there for 10 years. It is a very busy town and at that time there would have been 10 people in the Post Office six days a week. It was hectic. It was regimented as the whole Post office structure is based on the British Army. For example the man in charge of the counter was known as the Super Intendent. There was different grades of Post men and office clerks.

“After about 9 years I was getting restless and I got a phone call one day out of the blue from Noel Leahy who was an office clerk in Cashel at the time. I had never heard of him and I didn’t know a whole lot about Cashel.

“I grew up in Bansha so our town would have been Tipperary Town. I had fleeting visits to Cashel only. So when he rang there was a push to regrade the Post Office in Cashel from how it was with Post Office Clerks like ourselves to change it to be run as a kind of a franchise.

“They had heard of me somewhere along the line and Noel asked would I be interested in coming down to work there. My wife was also a Post Office Clerk and as it turns out there was a vacancy in Cahir at the time so we said we’d apply for it and we did,” he says.

The couple made their way to Tipperary and then in August of 1994 John started a new life in Cashel. His wife Trish started in Cahir the same day.

“It was probably a twist of fate,” John points out. “If I hadn’t got that phone call the idea would have gone off me or I may have transferred to Dublin or something like that,” he says.

West Tipperary became home again for John and Trish. It was a decision he hasn’t regretted: “Literally from the day I started there I knew I was after making the right decision.

“It was a completely different vibe. Relaxed, flexible and if you wanted a day off the lads would swap with you without and problem if you needed a Saturday off once you would do the same in return. That was new to me because I had been used to a regimented way of life. The Post Master was Tony Haven who was a great fella, so pleasent, so flexible, so decent. He passed away a couple of years ago.

“My colleugues were Noel Leahy from Donohill and Henry Reidy who is now the Post Master in Cahir and we became great friends.

“The people of Cashel were so welcoming and friendly. They are great people. On the street there was a great vibe because of all the tourists knocking about. It was different to a lot of inland towns in Ireland. Cashel was more like a coastal town like Kinsale. There was always other nationalities around and a cosmopolitian feel to the town which was rare enough in Ireland,” John says.

The Bansha native became a regular fixture of daily life for so many. Getting parcels, pensions, welfare, stamps, posting Christmas cards, wedding invites and so much more.

“I worked away anyway and time moved on so in 2007 An Post decided to restructure. At the time I could have moved to Thurles or Limerick or take over the running in Cashel so I had to hire my own staff and getting people in so it became more like a business.

It took adjusting but I was very lucky with the staff I got. Catherine O’Meara from just outside Thurles came on board, Sarah Flynn and Lucy Connolly became my core staff for 12 years and we all became great friends.

“About two years ago I developed an issue with my health after Covid. It put me into intensive care for eight days. I had been under pressure at work and anything can happen. I started to take stock and at that point I didn’t have the same energy to carry on so I told the girls and they were disappointed.

“The good thing was that whoever took over the office would be obliged to take them on as well. I worked away anyway and now Sarah and Rose moved to the new arrangement at Supervalu. It is going great there and they have a beautiful new office now there,” he says.

Life has changed. A talented artist, John always drew, painted and created art but does so even more now he says: “I had designs on going to Art College when I finished school.

“I neglected the art for a long time but for some strange reason when my mother died about 9 years ago, I just started to draw.

“It was following the funeral and it came over me. I don’t know if she had any part of it or maybe it was a time of reflection. It started from there and the more I was at it the better I was getting.

“I did a couple of exhibitions in the Granary in Cahir and the library in Cashel so I started to sell it then. I drew different things for people - like a family pet or a child or an old homestead.

“Again word spreads. Some people just take a liking to your stuff.” The artwork speaks for itself. John is one of a kind.