The final round! Popular Longford postman Brendan Fitzgerald makes his last delivery

Brendan Fitzgerald has been an integral part of the Ballinamuck community for the past 26 years in his role as postman.

He retired recently, following 35 years working for An Post. He spent the first nine years with the company working in Longford town and also in the sorting office.

In 1998, a vacancy arose in the Ballinamuck area. “When I started, the route was half Drumlish, half Ballinamuck,” he explained.

“I was accepted by people and had no problems in familiarising myself with the route. You become part of the community,” he added.

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Brendan’s predecessor on the route was Jimmy Breslin, who is still alive.

While technology has become more and more part of a lot of employment, the job of postman retains a central component - meeting people.

“Up until I retired, older people still loved to meet the postman. You could rush a bit more but I didn’t think that would be fair to people. I wasn’t rushing to school to collect my children. What you give, you get back,” Brendan explained.

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One of the big changes that Brendan has seen in his time as a postman is that the volume of letters has decreased, but the volume of parcels has increased, due to the rise of online shopping.

“Amazon parcels are very popular. Banks and other organisations want their customers to do their business online. The likes of bank statements are not being posted as much anymore,” he stated.

A native of Clonbroney, Brendan lives in Longford town.

While he says that he “never thought of retirement” now that it has come around, he intends to use his time well.

“I have been doing bits and pieces around the house. I have also bought a camper van,” he explained.

The community in Ballinamuck will acknowledge Brendan’s long service.

On Sunday, August 25, as part of social dancing in the ‘98 Hall, Ballinamuck, between 5pm and 7pm, a presentation will be made to Brendan.

We wish Brendan well in his retirement.

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