Signed, sorted and delivered with heart

After 43 years with An Post, Terry Potts is posting one final delivery as he prepares for retirement.

There are some people who quietly become part of the fabric of a town. They never seek the spotlight, yet their influence reaches far beyond the walls of their workplace. Terry Potts is one of those people.

After 43 years of service with An Post, including the past 33 years in Killarney, Terry is preparing to sort his final letter, supervise his final morning and close one very important chapter in a career that has always been about people.

My own connection with Terry goes back to writing Behind the Mask during Covid.

Throughout that difficult period, An Post employees featured heavily in the book as they became the heartbeat of communities, delivering not just parcels and letters but connection, reassurance and kindness at a time when so many people felt isolated.

It was during those interviews that postwoman Lil O’Doherty spoke so warmly of Terry’s leadership, praising the way he always put family first whenever staff needed support.

With that in mind, I recently paid an early morning visit to the Tiernaboul sorting office.

While Terry, completely unaware of my visit, reluctantly went home to change his shirt, my neighbour Connie ‘Flash’ O’Shea kindly stepped in to give me a guided tour.

He proudly showed me Route 6, our own Pinewood route, while explaining the carefully choreographed system behind the sorting of every letter and parcel.

It was fascinating.

Although the office was busy, I was told this was actually one of the quieter parts of the morning as many of the postmen and women had already left on their rounds before 8am. Watching the organised rhythm of the sorting floor, hearing the steady hum of parcels moving through the building and seeing every route meticulously prepared gave me a whole new appreciation for what happens long before the first knock arrives at our front doors.

Thankfully, Terry eventually returned and, although somewhat reluctantly, agreed to stand in front of my camera.

I was delighted he did.

“The best part of the job is meeting people,” Terry told me. “There are 70 staff here and every day is different. Sometimes people need a clap on the back and sometimes, they need the opposite. The satisfaction comes from understanding people and helping them achieve more than they think they’re capable of.”

I knew those words were genuine.

Only the evening before, Connie had shared a story that perfectly illustrated Terry’s approach. Just a few months after starting with An Post, he had reached the point where he wanted to give up.

“My son Ian was due and there was a lot happening,” Connie explained. “I told Terry I didn’t think I could do it. He encouraged me to stick with it. I’m still here today and Ian is now 27 and working with An Post himself. That’s all down to Terry and the way he cared about his staff beyond the front gates.”

That ability to see the person before the employee seems to have earned Terry enormous respect throughout his career.

“The Post Office has always been good to me,” he said. “It allowed Agatha to stay at home and raise our family and together we were able to put all five of our children through college.”

He fondly remembered colleagues who are no longer with An Post, speaking with great affection of Eddie Barry, Malachy Walsh, Joe Jones and Denis O’Sullivan.

Terry’s own An Post story began in Dublin where he met his wife Agatha in what he laughingly describes as a ’sliding doors’ moment in 1985.

Both accepted transfers to Killarney before moving here together in 1993 and have never looked back.

Like the postal service itself, Terry has seen enormous change over four decades.

“Before Covid we were mainly a letter business,” he explained. “Online shopping completely changed everything and we had to adapt quickly. We moved mostly from bikes to vans and we’re constantly updating our training. An Post is always evolving.”

Now it is Terry’s turn to begin a new chapter.

Retirement arrives during what promises to be a wonderful family year.

His daughter Sarah, a speech and language therapist at University Hospital Kerry, will marry in August while daughter Annie, a teacher in Castleisland, will marry in December.

Jade is qualifying as a nurse, Harry works with An Post and Michael has built a career in accountancy.

Talk soon turned to grandson Danny Cronin and Terry’s face immediately lit up.

“Hopefully there’ll be many more grandchildren to enjoy,” he smiled. “I really don’t want to work. Otherwise I’d have no problem staying with An Post.”

He also spoke lovingly about Anne Galvin, Agatha’s sister, who is cared for by Terry and Agatha in their home, reflecting once again that family has always been central to everything he does.

Despite stepping away from work, Terry has no shortage of plans.

“I’ll probably still be up early every morning,” he laughed. “There are about 20 years of jobs waiting to be done around the house.”

Away from work he has always enjoyed the GAA, serving as juvenile chairman of Dr Crokes in 2010. He also has a passion for photography.

Although he modestly insists he is “not really a photographer”, Terry loves creating online photo books that tell the stories behind family adventures. His albums from Sydney, where daughter Sarah once lived, and from celebrating his 60th birthday in Malta are among many memory books that fill his home.

As Terry chatted, staff constantly called out greetings and good wishes while letters and parcels continued to move around us. There was warmth, humour and quiet respect in every interaction.

It struck me that after 43 years Terry has probably carried countless stories through those sorting office doors, yet his greatest strength has always been knowing which stories belonged to others and treating them with care.

As he prepares to deliver his final day, Terry has one wish for those continuing the journey.

“I’d like to leave things a little better than I found them. Moving from New Street into this building in 2011 was a big step forward. I wish the new team every success.”

Then, with a grin, he added one final line that perhaps sums up both his career and the woman who has stood beside him throughout it.

“Agatha reckons she’s retiring today as well. She’s been my rock outside the office and she’s known the ins and outs of An Post almost as well as I have.”

After 43 years of faithful service, Terry Potts has certainly earned his final delivery. Judging by the smiles that followed him around Tiernaboul sorting office that morning, the message is already in the post. He will be greatly missed.

Killarney Celtic FC has taken a major step toward its historic debut in the new FAI National League by officially appointing its senior management team.

Brian Spillane has been named as team manager for the upcoming campaign, which kicks off later this year.

He will be joined by Tim Jones, who takes up the role of assistant manager alongside his current duties as the club’s facilities development manager.

The appointments bring the town a step closer to hosting national-tier senior football.

Killarney Celtic is one of just 15 clubs selected nationwide by the Football Association of Ireland to compete in the newly formed division.

Designed as the highest tier of grassroots football, the competition creates a brand-new, direct pathway between local amateur structures and the League of Ireland for the very first time.

The local club earns its place on the national stage following a long period of dominance in the Kerry District League, where they recently secured their seventh consecutive Premier A title.

The inaugural National League season will feature a shortened schedule this coming autumn before implementing full promotion and relegation from the 2027 season onward.