Anti-Treaty Stamps from the Irish Civil War
In July and August 1922, during the early months of the Irish Civil War, Anti-Treaty forces who were headquartered in Cork, issued a series of unique postage stamps. It is not clear whether this decision formed part of an official policy to create an alternate Republican postal service in Ireland or if it was a more localised initiative. An original design for the stamp depicting Padraig Pearse was rejected by the printers, Eagle Printing Works, for being too complicated for easy reproduction. A simpler design, as shown in the image, shows the words “An Post Poblact na h-Éireann” (Post of the Republic of Ireland) encircled in a central medallion beneath a rising sun. They printed three different colours of this design including a red one valued at a penny (1d), a green one for threepence (3d), and blue for sixpence (6d). Eagle Printing Works were based on the South Mall, Cork City.
The exact number of sheets of stamps printed by the Eagle Printing Works is unknown as shortly after issuing them, the National Army drove Republican forces the city during the Battle of Cork in early August 1922. In their hasty retreat, Anti-Treaty troops burnt their headquarters on Union Quay, in which it is believed most of the printed stamps had been stored. However, some stamps had been distributed nationally to groups affiliated with the Anti-Treaty cause. Today, it is estimated that there are about 250 copies of the 1d and 2d stamps sill extent, while about 1000 copies of the 6d stamp survived the fire.
In the summer of 2024, the museum was contacted by the now retired An Post archivist and curator, Stephen Ferguson, who very kindly donated this rare collection of four 6d stamps to us. He drew our attention to the fact that the stamp contained the phrase ‘An Post’, which did not become the official name of the Irish postal service until 1984. Prior to this, the Department of Posts and Telegraphs were responsible for overseeing Ireland’s postal operations.
Further Reading:
C I Dulin, Ireland’s Transition: Postal History of the Transitional Period, 1922-25, MacDonnell Whyte, Dublin, 1992
There is a concise overview of the history of these stamps on the following webpage created by the University of Notre Dame: https://rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/stamps/irish/set10L/set10L.html