Two new stamps were unveiled this week to mark the 250th anniversary of O’Connell’s birth, as part of wider celebrations of The Liberator planned for this year.
One of the stamps features a depiction of O’Connell moving through Dublin city following his release from prison in 1844, with an old television aerial shown on a building in the background.
Television did not emerge in Ireland until 1949, 105 years after the scene depicted on the stamp, designed by Irish artist David Rooney.
O’Connell’s campaigns in the 19th century led to the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, granting Catholics the right to serve as members of parliament and hold public office.
An Post has said AI software was not used to generate the image and the inclusion of a TV aerial on the stamp was an artistic “anachronism”, used to create a visual link to O’Connell’s modern communication methods.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and An Post CEO David McRedmond unveiling the new Daniel O’Connell stamps. Photo: An Post
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Thursday July 31
It was included in the artwork as a “visual signal to link to the very modern, global range and impact of O’Connell”, An Post said in a post on social media.
“We have worked with David before on some really excellent stamps like our Ice Men (Arctic Explorers series), the 50th anniversary of Sydney Opera House and celebrating the RNLI for example,” a spokesperson for An Post said.
“The important thing here is to remember that these are an artistic representation not a faithful recreation of the events etc.
“The conversations around this will serve O’Connell and the celebrations of his 250th well I think. Hopefully, it will prompt some thought around O’Connell not just being a man of his times but a man for our times too.”
The second stamp depicts O’Connell at one of his famous “monster meetings”, massive public gatherings held in Ireland throughout the 1840s in an effort to have the Act of Union repealed.
Monster meetings were so-named for the size of the crowds that attended them and were seen as a key part of O’Connell’s efforts to restore an Irish parliament.
Both stamps were unveiled by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and An Post CEO David McRedmond this week.
“By every measure, Daniel O’Connell was the most internationally known and influential leader in our history. In the words of Gladstone, he was the greatest popular leader the world has ever known,” Mr Martin said.