As Ireland, people of Irish descent, friends of the country and - if we’re honest - lots of people who like a party celebrate St Patrick’s Day, here is a look at how Ireland’s stamps reflect a struggle for freedom.
When the modern, adhesive postage stamp was invented in Great Britain in 1840 it was invented in an imperial power of which Ireland had been the first colony.
Pope Adrian IV, whose Laudabiliter bull gave the kings of England the "right" to subjugate Ireland and the Irish.
Normans from England, under King Henry II, were given permission in a Bull issued by the (English) Pope Adrian IV in 1155 to rule over Ireland.
By 1542, King Henry VIII, was passing the Crown of Ireland Act that declared him King of the country.
And in 1800 the Acts of Union created the United Kingdom, bringing Ireland under the same flag and abolishing what superficial self-government there had been.
That’s a story of invasion, repression, rebellion, heroism, atrocity, tragedy… reduced to three bits of paper.
To understand the much more complicated full story you need millions of other pieces of paper.
Stamps
The General Post Office in Dublin after the Easter Rising when the building switched overnight from being a symbol of English power to one of Irish resistance.
It’s no accident that the pioneering British penny post was concurrent with an industrial revolution in the world’s greatest imperial power.
And it's no accident that one of the great imperial buildings in the heart of Dublin was the General Post Office, which, in 1916 was the headquarters of the most serious rebellion against British rule since 1798.
Communication by letter was the lifeblood of the British Empire.
And even the most neophyte collector knows how important stamps are as vehicles for national stories.
So, in 1922, the newly free Irish Free State was faced with the task of replacing the postal machinery of a state that had just ended a hostile occupation but with which it had been in a centuries long relationship.
How did they handle that?
Overprints
These 1922 overprints show neatly how a nation and a language came into being.
Overprints are among the most historically evocative stamps.
They really showcase stamps as living historical documents.
The hyperinflation in Germany?
Britain’s imperial expansion?
Occupations?
All recorded by overprints.
And, in Ireland, the birth of a new nation was recorded with overprints in a new language.
The Seahorses stamps are generally recognised as carrying a message of British naval supremacy in the lead up to World War I, here they are repurposed for a new state, though the Free State still relied on British maritime defence at its foundation.
Some of them, using stamps that were heavy with British imperial propaganda, were particularly resonant and are now treasured by Irish collectors.
New designs, new iconography
The Union Flag, Britannia, George V’s head, all useless to a new Irish nation desperate to speak and sing in its own voice.
A competition entry for Ireland's first stamps from 1922 offers a new personification of the country.
So, you have personifications of Ireland and new representations of Irish life to create.
New heroes, new calendars, new histories
Stamps are used to celebrate a nation’s achievements.
In 1922, Ireland had been looking at English faces for about 80 years.
And now they could commemorate their own heroes, heroines and achievements.
William Brown was born in Ireland, but is considered the founder of the navy of Argentina, where more than 1,000 streets are named after him. He's been honoured on Irish stamps twice, here in 1957.
New machineries, new liveries
A stamp is one part of the postal machine. All of them liveried to tell the story of the institution and the nation.
Irish airmail stamps proclaim the "Voice of Ireland" in Latin. This example is an invert that makes it even more collectible.
Postal staff, post offices, air mail, international post, parcel posts, revenue stamps all need to be added to the national postal infrastructure to make it tick.
Irish postage stamps and Irish history
Some Irish post boxes (this one is in Dublin) are old enough to show their British roots in the monarch's initials under the green paint of a newly formed nation state.
As a relatively young state - the Irish Free State was succeeded by the Republic of Ireland in 1948 - stamp collectors really can get a comprehensive survey of Irish history through its stamps.
It helps that Ireland operated what experts consider “very conservative” issuing policies until the 1960s.
So, there are relatively few series of stamps to collect.
But, few countries have a philatelic history that is as redoelent of its culture and history.
Buying rare Irish stamps today
We are the world’s largest dealer in rare collectibles.
So, of course we have an exciting selection of rare, historic Irish stamps for you to select from.
