An Post has issued a new stamp marking the centenary of the national anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann.
The 55c stamp shows a girls’ choir from Coláiste losagáin in Stillorgan, Co Dublin, alongside a border in the national colours.
Originally written in English by Peadar Kearney in 1907, the ‘Soldier’s Song’ was later translated into the Irish language by Liam Ó Rinn. Peadar Kearney, along with Patrick Heeney, also wrote the music.
The song consists of three verses and a chorus, but it was the chorus that was formally adopted as the National Anthem in 1926, replacing ‘God Save Ireland’.
The first two lines of the anthem and the last two, played together, form the Presidential Salute, which is played when the President of Ireland attends official events.
It became known when it was sung in the GPO during the Easter Rising in 1916.
In 1934, the State acquired the copyright of Amhrán na bhFiann for the then enormous sum of £1,200, with specific authorisation written into the Appropriation Act that year.
