POSTCARD N.109 - IRELAND

Postcard sent on the 2nd August; received on the 13th August 2023

Postcard image: Pine Marten (Martes martes) 
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A maximum card from Ireland. Welcome Mr. Marten, and thanks a lot Eric! They look much nicer in full attire, than dressed simply as paintbrushes.....

The European marten has a wide distribution in the continent and beyond, the mustelid being found as west as Ireland and well into the east, in the  Urals, Anatolia, Transcaucasia, Mesopotamia and northern Iran.

This nice looking little fury beast was the subject of a beautiful four stamp set (28; 32; 44 and 52 Irish pennies) issued on 09JUL1992, the 52 p stamp, on which a marten is seen catching a great tit, (lucky fellow,,,,)  having been used for this max card.

~

Eric used a bunch of stamps to mail me this card and even though Christmas is still a bit far, he must have followed the old Portuguese adagio that says that "Christmas is whenever a man wants it to be", because out of the 10 stamps he used, 5 are from the same four stamp Christmas set, issued on 14NOV2000, with images depicting several  biblical episodes related to the season: the flight into Egypt (30 p); Nativity (30 p); The Holy Three Kings follow the Star (32 p) and The Shepherds on the Field see the Star (45 p).

Again, a definitive series  that I would not mind having complete, so beautiful they are. the 1 cent stamp, depicting a Bloody Crane's-Bill (Geranium sanguineum) and the 2 cent  illustrated with an  Irish Orchid (Neotinea maculata)  were issued on 12APR2005, while the 3 cent stamp, with the image of Yellow Flag (Iris pseudacorus) began circulating on 01MAR2007.

The postmark is pretty illegible, so the place of posting remains a mystery to me ☺