In a way, the difference between Postmarks and Stamps on a Roll is that a Postmark shows where the stamp was posted and a SOAR shows where the stamp was bought.
In the 21st century, it is unusual to see a postmark from a small town or village. Mail is take to a few Mail Sorting Centres, where they are machine marked and often not marked at all.
These postmarks are all from towns and villages in County Limerick. They were collected in the 1980s.
Limerick
Limerick: Postmarks 1
Postmarks: Limerick 2
Collecting postmarks was always a good way of finding a use for duplicate stamps found in kiloware. They add to a collection.
There is something very consistent about collecting Irish stamps. Stamps were first issued in 1922 and will probably (despite technology making them unnecessary) still be be issued after I have passed on. It is a hobby that has a beginning (1922) and if it has an ending, it is still some way off.
It is now just over fifty years since I started my first Ireland stamp album. At that point, I would have considered Stamp Collecting to be “mint” and “used” stamps. I would have considered First Day Covers to be a luxury. And the first Irish “miniature sheet” was not issued until 1972.
I would not have considered (even) definitive booklets or prestige booklets or slogan postmarks or commercially used mail or vintage Irish postcards to be an aspect of collecting. But they are all items that are now very much part of my collection.
And…this post is about…Postmarks.
Postmarks are depending on the collector nasty smudges that damage a stamp or pieces of Postal History.
In my first paragraph above, I wrote that Irish Stamps are the never-ending story. Irish Postmarks are very different. They begin in 1922 (following the “English” postmarks on those Golden Age postcards and ordinary mail) but they end with automation of sorting…which ended in the late 20th century.
It is still possible to see the postmark of a small village usually on stamps that were on registered mail or parcels. But generally speaking, the vast majority of postmarked mail comes thru sorting centres such as Dublin, Cork and Athlone.
I first came across Irish postmarks in the mid 1980s. An English guy (Nick) was an avid collector of postmarks and occasionally I helped him out with Norn Iron postmarks. At that time I worked in the Civil Service and the mailroom was good to me. And on a few occasions, he sent me mixtures of his duplicates.
Postmarks: County Roscommon
Postmarks: County Monaghan
Postmarks: County Down
For many years, I kept these postmarks….hundreds of them on loose album pages. A few years ago, they found a permanent home in two Simplex Medium albums.
Postmark Albums
Duplicate Postmarks
I have a lot of duplicates from most counties.
Post Office Guide 1971
The Post Office Guide (Eolaí an Phoist) 1971 lists all Irish post offices (including Norn Iron) in both Irish and English and was invaluable for translation. I had a copy of the 1981 version but foolishly lent it to someone who did not return it.
I few days ago, I wrote about SOARs and I see SOARs as an updated form of collecting postmarks.
Collecting Stamps of Ireland 