AEOLUS
From 'Dublin' (SOF, 1907): "The GPO building, of 3 stories, the lowest rusticated, is of mountain granite. The frontage is 223 feet. The magnificent portico, 80 feet in width, consists of 6 fluted ionic columns, each 4 feet 6 inches in diameter. These support an entablature with a richly carved frieze and a pediment, the tympanum of which bears the Royal Arms. Surmounting the pediment are statues, by John Smyth, of Mercury with the caduceus and purse; Fidelity finger on lip and bearing a key, and in the centre Hibernia with shield and spear. The cornice, 50 feet above ground-level, supports a handsome balustrade. From the court-yard of this building the mail-coaches once spead nightly, north and south, east and west; the English mail leaving at 7am by cart for Howth, whence the steam packets, or, in stress of weather, wherries, took it to Holyhead." This PC shows a popular Dublin joke, at the expense of British 'tourists,' about the statues atop the GPO.
