Kennedy stamp voted Irish stamp of the year

A stamp marking the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s state visit to Ireland in June 1963 was voted as Ireland’s stamp issue of 2013, according to an announcement by An Post in the second 2014 issue of its publication Irish Stamps the Collector. The entry form to vote in the poll was included in the first 2014 issue of the publication.

The €0.60 stamp was issued June 6, 2013. The design by Steve Simpson reproduces a black-and-white photograph of the president and his cousin’s daughter, Mary Ann Ryan, in Dunganstown. A €0.90 stamp issued at the same time features another photograph from Kennedy’s visit to his ancestral homeland.

An Post reported that to some people who voted for the stamp, it served as an iconic reminder of Irish pride in the president’s visit.

Others said that it captured the “aura and greatness of the man.”