Tag Archives: stamp

AN Post has issued a new €1.35 stamp commemorating the centenary of the Battle of Messines Ridge.  The stamp, designed by Ger Garland, features the Round Tower from the Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines, Belgium. The Battle of Messines involved the British Second Army, under the command of General Sir Herbert Plumer, in an offensive that took place on the Western Front near the village of Messines in West Flanders, Belgium from June 7-14, in 1917. Soldiers from the 16th (Irish) and the 36th (Ulster) Divisions played an important role in one of the war’s most effective large-scale operations by reclaiming the German occupied Flemish village of Wijtschate.  It was believed that the success of the operation on June 7 created the prospect of reconciliation between the two political traditions in Ireland – British unionism and Irish nationalism.    

The founding of Lions Clubs International, one hundred years ago, is celebrated on An Post’s new international postage stamp.   The €1.35 stamp, which covers standard letter postage anywhere in the world, was designed by Dublin company Red Dog and features a photograph from the annual Lions Holiday Project in 2016. The Lions Club is the world’s largest voluntary service organisation with a presence in over 200 countries and more than 1.4 million volunteers worldwide.  There are 2,700 members in 116 clubs across the island of Ireland, north and south. With their motto ‘We Serve’, they organise projects to help vulnerable and elderly people within their communities, and they undertake humanitarian work such as aiding street children, providing diabetic screening and preventing suicide and blindness. Paul Allen, District Governor of Lions Clubs International in Ireland, expressed his appreciation that the Lions Clubs work in serving their communities has been recognised by An Post with this special international stamp, reflecting the global reach of Lions …