TWO NEW STAMPS commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O’Connell have been unveiled.

The stamps are part of the widespread celebrations planned to celebrate the revolutionary’s quarter of a millennium anniversary. 

Daniel O’Connell, hailed in his time as ‘The Liberator’, was born in August 1775.He emerged as a key figure in Ireland’s pursuit of parliamentary democracy through his movement for the repeal of the 1800 Act of Union.

Barred from taking his parliamentary seat in 1828, his campaign eventually led to the passage of the 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act. The Kerry man was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin after securing the passage of the Act.

The Act meant that Irish Catholics could become members of parliament. Dublin’s main thoroughfare bears his name.

The two stamps were unveiled by Taoiseach Micheál Martin today.

They are designed by Irish artist David Rooney, and are said to commemorate O’Connell’s enduring legacy, “showing him as an inspiring and towering figure in momentous, stylised scenes from his life”. 

One stamp depicts his release from Richmond Bridewell after his three-month imprisonment.

The second stamp shows him front and centre at one of his famous ‘monster meetings’. According to magazine History Ireland, O’Connell’s fifty-plus ‘monster meetings’ have been described the most spectacular public gatherings in Irish history.

They were held across the three southern provinces during the summers of 1843 and 1845 to demonstrate support for O’Connell’s campaign to repeal the Act of Union.

“These gatherings were arguably the largest mass phenomena in modern Irish history. In the contemporary nationalist press, almost all of them were said to number over 100,000; many were reported at between a quarter million and a half million; and one of them, the famous gathering at Tara Hill in mid-August 1843, was put at over one million,” the magazine said.

Micheál Martin, TCD Provost Linda Doyle, and An Post CEO David McRedmond. MAXWELL PHOTOGRAPHY MAXWELL PHOTOGRAPHY

A limited edition First Day Cover envelope features his famous statue in Ennis, Co. Clare and is available, together with the stamps, at selected post offices and online from tomorrow.

Speaking today at Trinity College, Martin said that O’Connell is the greatest popular leader the world has ever known.

“He was a campaigner for the Catholic emancipation, the repeal of the Act of the Union and the abolition of slavery. He proved to be a powerful constitutional and legal reformer. I am delighted to unveil these stamps marking 250 years since his birth, to honour him and remember his legacy.”

CEO of An Post David McRedmond said that An Post hopes that the stamps will promote a renewed interest in O’Connell.

Also a part of the celebrations, Leinster House is to unveil a statue of Daniel O’Connell later this year. A programme of commemorative events will be held for ‘The Liberator’ in the coming weeks and months, including a State-led ceremony at his principal residence, Derrynane House in Co Kerry.