The first stamps used in the Irish Free State were actually overprinted British stamps. King George V has been blotted out by red text reading ‘Rialtas Sealadaċ na hEireann 1922’ (Provisional Government of Ireland 1922).

New postage designs were soon commissioned, so these overprinted stamps have become collectors’ items, especially when the text is wonky or in a strange colour. There used to be a whole sheet of them on display at the An Post Museum in Dublin, but it closed in 2015 to make way for the new GPO Witness Centre.