POSTCARD N.35 -  Ireland

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 8th September; received on the 23rd September
Postcard image: The General Post Office Building - Dublin
_________________________________________________________________________________

Today, Mr. Postman dropped a mammoth postcard into my mailbox (a full A5 size), that flew in from Guinness land, Dublin, a beautiful city which I had already the pleasure of visiting a couple of times. Thank you so much Alvean!

The postcard is curious in that it depicts a stamp, which was issued on 11JAN2018 on the occasion of the Bicentenary of the official opening of the General Post Office in Dublin.

This building, to this day still housing the headquarters of the Irish Post Office, is probably more famous for the part it played in the Easter uprising of Easter week 1916, when it served as the rallying point for Irish independentists that rebelled against British domination of the island. It was also outside this building, that still shows the scars of the impact of bullets on its walls and columns, that the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was made public, having been read by Patrick Pearse.

The uprising would be defeated, hundreds would be wounded or killed on both sides of the barricades, 16 independentists would be executed in its aftermath (including Pearse), but the seeds had been sown and Eire would become an independent state in 1922.

Stamps, left to right:

Alvean used two ATM labels to mail the postcard. 

The first label was issued on 23JUL2020, replicating the design of a regular stamp issued on 21FEB2019. Dedicated to the theme "A stamp for Ireland" it highlights that most common feature of Irish weather - rain - through clever use of written typical Irish sentences related to it, displayed in a way that they too graphically evoke rain traces.

The second label was issued on 02AUG2018 as part of the series Irish Life and Culture and it depicts the  Rock of Cashel in Tipperary County, which, according to Wikipedia, was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. It was also the place where St. Patrick converted the then ruling King of Munster, in the 5th century. The design had also already been previously used on a regular stamp issued on 20APR2017.

No postmark was used on the postcard, but Alvean tells me it was posted directly at the GPO Building.