Ireland issues Christmas stamps, labels

A 3-year-old girl dressed as an angel is pictured on a Christmas stamp issued by Ireland’s An Post Nov. 24. The 68-penny self-adhesive stamp shows Paris Curtis singing carols outside the Mansion House in Dublin. The photograph was taken five years ago. Curtis, now 8, helped to unveil the stamp.

The newspaper The Irish Times reported that Curtis “could be one of youngest faces to appear on a stamp in Ireland.”

The stamp is sold in booklets of 26 for €17, which means that one stamp is free.

Ireland also issued two computer-produced postage labels for use on Christmas mail. An Post calls such labels SOAR, for “stamps on a roll.” The labels are self-adhesive, and the denomination is printed at the time of purchase.

The labels picture stained glass windows by Harry Clarke in the Millstreet Parish Church in County Cork and St. Patrick’s Church in County Mayo. Bill Power took the photographs of the stained glass windows.

Further information is available on the website of An Post, www.irishstamps.ie; or by writing to the An Post Philatelic Bureau, Box 1991, GPO, Dublin 1, Ireland. An Post’s new-issue agency in the United States is Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557-0420.