Folded Booklets (1976-2000)

Postage stamps of Ireland are the postage stamps issued by the stamp issuing authority of the independent Irish state from 1922 to present. more...

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Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when the world's first postage stamps were issued in 1840. These first postage stamps, and all subsequently issued stamps, were available for use in Ireland until Irish independence in 1922. Because the new Irish Government did not have their own postage stamps available, they overprinted the existing stamps.

Introduction

The Irish Free State issued the first overprinted stamps on 17 February 1922 and on 6 December 1922 the Department of Posts and Telegraphs issued a 2d value definitive postage stamp of its own with the Map of Ireland design. Ofig an Phoist, the Irish Post Office, was a section of The Department of Posts and Telegraphs and they continued to issue Irish stamps until the division of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs into two semi-state organisations in 1984 when An Post took over the responsibility for all Irish postal services including the issuing of postage stamps.

Introductory details about the postage stamps issued in Ireland have been taken from the catalogues, handbooks and other publications produced by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, An Post, stamp dealers, philatelic publishers and philatelic societies. The categories of stamps, as normally listed in stamp catalogues like Hibernian, Stanley Gibbons, etc., has been maintained in this article.

GB used in Ireland

To identify postage stamps used in Ireland, between 1840 and 1922, it is necessary to identify the postmark cancelling the stamp as being from an Irish town. Stamps used during this period are referred to as GB Used in Ireland.

If a sufficient amount of the postmark is showing, it is not necessary for the stamp to be affixed to a cover in order to see the complete postmark for identification purposes. Oftentimes it is possible to identify the town of use from a partial postmark. Between 1840 and 1844 the Penny Black, and other stamps issued, were cancelled with the Maltese Cross obliterator, and while there is no text or numeral to help identify any cancel as Irish, as was the case after 1844, some Maltese Crosses are uniquely identifiable with certain Irish towns. Belfast, Eyrecourt, Cork, Hollymount, Limerick and Mullingar are some examples of towns that had distinctive Maltese Cross obliterators.

Postal history collectors prefer a complete cover because a more complete story can be gleaned from the other postal markings and a complete cover with the stamp affixed is usually worth significantly more than a single stamp.

Read more at Wikipedia.org