New restaurant plan for old Laois post office
The interior of the old post office on Main Street, Portarlington. Photo: Tom McDonald & Associates
AN OLD post office looks set to enjoy a new lease of life, with plans to convert the long-vacant building into a large café/restaurant.
The former post office on Portarlington’s Main Street has lain empty for over eight years, since An Post moved the business to SuperValu in September 2017.
A planning application newly lodged with Laois Co Council envisages an extensive café/restaurant in the former post office building, also taking in the ground floor of the adjacent three-storey Georgian house and a rear outdoor space.
The application submitted by Annette Dunne seeks permission for change of use of the former post office to a café/restaurant, together with use of the ground floor of the house to give an additional floor area of 27m².
The imposing five-bedroom home and single-storey former post office went on the market last April with local auctioneer Tom McDonald, with an asking price of €350,000.
Auctioneers’ evocative photographs show that the high-ceiling interior of the post office has remained untouched since the front door closed, with counters and post sorting shelves still in place.
The entire property includes a large walled rear garden and a variety of outbuildings. Under the plans, the property would be bounded by a new 2.1m capped stone wall, to create a 25m² rear outdoor space.
The planning application also includes the construction a 15m² single-storey lean-to extension to the rear of the former post office, to contain an accessible toilet for customers.
Both the house and the old post office are protected structures. The planning application was submitted this week and a council decision is due in January 2026.
