Stamps celebrate Ireland’s rare and prized wildlife

6 May 2021

May 6th 2021: Two new stamps from An Post celebrate Ireland’s rich and rare natural wildlife. The stamps are part of the EUROPA series in which postal administrations across Europe produce stamps to a central theme bearing the EUROPA logo. The chosen theme for 2021 is Endangered National Wildlife.

Endangered natonal wildlife broadly refers to species that are threatened with extinction.  In Ireland, the Wildlife Act is the principle mechanism for the legislative protection of species that have significant conservation value. The stamps are designed by Jenny Dempsey and beautifully illustrated by Shevaun Doherty.

Thought to be extinct in Ireland and Britain, the White Prominent Moth was rediscovered in Kerry in 2008.  The Freshwater Pearl Mussel is on the verge of extinction in Ireland and western Europe.  

The Moth stamp carries an ‘N’ for national postage across the island of Ireland while the Freshwater Pearl Mussel stamp shows ‘W’ for worldwide letter postage.  Both stamps feature on a beautiful First Day Cover (FDC) souvenir envelope which includes an illustration of the rare Kerry Slug only found in the south-west of Ireland, and in Spain and Portugal. 

The new stamps and are available at selected post offices nationwide, at Dublin’s GPO, or online at anpost.com/shop.