Irish
Immigration
Date
of Issue: February 26, 1999
On February 26, 1999, the U.S. Postal
Service paid tribute to the nearly 44 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry
when the Irish Immigration stamp was officially dedicated in Boston, with a
special ceremony in Chicago, and the Irish Emigration stamp was dedicated in a
joint-issuance with Ireland.
Senators
Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, Representative J. Joseph Moakley, and
Stephen O'Connor, Chairman, An Post, the Irish postal administration, joined
Postmaster General William J. Henderson in dedicating the Irish Immigration
stamp in the official first day ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library &
Museum in Boston. Due to inclement weather in Boston, Senators Kennedy and Kerry
and PMG Henderson participated in the dedication ceremony via satellite from
Washington, D.C. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Cook County Commissioner John Daley,
and Jim Treacy, General Manager of An Post, joined Postal Service Board of
Governors Chairman Einar Dyhrkopp in a similar dedication ceremony at the Art
Institute in Chicago.
Across the ocean in Ireland, Postal
Service Deputy Postmaster General Michael S. Coughlin joined John Hynes, CEO, An
Post, in the joint-issuance ceremony dedicating the Irish Emigration stamp. The
event was held in Cobh, a port city approximately 120 miles south of Dublin from
where the majority of the emigration ships departed for America. In the 114
years between 1815 and 1929, nearly six million immigrants sailed across the
ocean in huge vessels searching for new opportunities in North America. The
five-year period between 1845 and 1850 marked the height of the migration out of
Ireland. During the Great Famine more than a million Irish died of starvation
and disease when a fungus destroyed the Irish potato crop, which the population
depended on as the main ingredient in their diet.
The 33-cent commemorative stamp,
designed by veteran stamp designer Howard Paine of Delaplane, Va., using an
illustration by Dennis Lyall of Bridgeport, Conn., features a large ship sailing
into a harbor as seen from a dock. The words "IRISH IMMIGRATION 33
USA" are featured in white lettering at the bottom. On the Irish version,
the words "IRISH EMIGRATION 45 EIRE" are featured in black lettering
in the same location.
(click
on the stamp to view a larger version)
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Senators
Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry, Representative J. Joseph Moakley, and
Stephen O'Connor, Chairman, An Post, the Irish postal administration, joined
Postmaster General William J. Henderson in dedicating the Irish Immigration
stamp in the official first day ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library &
Museum in Boston. Due to inclement weather in Boston, Senators Kennedy and Kerry
and PMG Henderson participated in the dedication ceremony via satellite from
Washington, D.C. Senator Richard J. Durbin, Cook County Commissioner John Daley,
and Jim Treacy, General Manager of An Post, joined Postal Service Board of
Governors Chairman Einar Dyhrkopp in a similar dedication ceremony at the Art
Institute in Chicago.