Offaly native to feature on new stamp

An Offaly-born priest who has spent his life in Africa fighting to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS has been honoured in new stamps issued by An Post.

Fr Michael J Kelly, who has been based in Zambia for more than 50 years is an advocate and activist for HIV/Aids prevention and human rights in Sub Saharan Africa and worldwide.

Now, the Tullamore native features on the new ‘Irish Abroad’ stamps telling the story of emigration - paying tribute to Irish with international influence around the globe ahead of St Patrick's Day. Dame Kathleen Lonsdale (scientist), Richard Harris (actor) and Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (musician) and Edna O’Brien (author), and Mary Elmes (humanitarian) are among other well known people featuring on the stamps.

Designed by Irish company, ZeroG, three ‘N' stamps for national postage and two ‘W’ stamps for worldwide postage explore the complex story of Irish emigration over the past two centuries. Three of the stamps feature common themes of emigration: a photo of people gathering in ‘The Galtymore Dancehall’ in Cricklewood, London showing the importance of Irish Centres and Irish hubs to the emigrant community, an image of suitcases at Dublin Airport (1969) capturing the common experience of people leaving Ireland, a detail from the painting ‘Emigrants letter and envelope, 1988’ by Geraldine O’Reilly representing communication with home and the importance of staying in touch.

In 2012, the Tullamore native received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award (PDSA) from the President Michael D Higgins.

Welcoming the release, Minister of State for the Diaspora, Ciarán Cannon said: “I am delighted to see the launch of this set of stamps which commemorate the Irish emigration experience, and honour the contributions of the global Irish diaspora.

 Emigration has played a central role in Irish life for centuries, and there is scarcely a family on the island that has not been touched by it in some form”.

 He continued: “It is appropriate that this collection pays tribute both to the painful aspects of emigration – the separation, and the challenges of staying connected across great distances - but also to the many success stories of the Irish who settled in their new societies and thrived there.

As these stamps travel the world, they will tell the story of the extraordinary resilience of the global Irish who overcame great challenges and flourished in the new homes they made overseas”.