The Virtual GB Album

Moving away from the symbolism used for the Scottish and Welsh definitives two years earlier, Royal Mail illustrated four visual patterns that reflect Northern Ireland’s culture and geography.

The second-class definitive shows the Giants Causeway, located on the coast of County Antrim. It is one of the most important landforms in the world and was recently awarded world heritage status. The Causeway proper is a mass of hexagonal basalt columns packed tightly together. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. The columns were formed as lava cooled slowly, creating a uniform pattern.

Royal Mail calls it an “instantly recognizable” feature of Northern Ireland. The name stemps from a legend of the origin of the causeway: a giant named Finn McCool, the Ulster warrior and commander of the king of Ireland’s armies built it to confront a bad-tempered Scottish giant named Benandonner. (A similar formation can be found at Devil’s Postpile in California.)

With their network of trees and hedgerows, the patchwork fields that have developed over the years in Northern Ireland create a distinctive aerial view. The photo used on the first-class stamp was taken by Richard Cooke over County Londonderry.

The European rate stamp features a detail from a linen slip case, originally used to carry small personal items. The embroidery technique used is drawn threadwork, a forerunner of lace. Northern Ireland has been a provider of fine linen since the 16th century, aided by the application of steam and water power in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Belleek Pottery Works Company, Limited of Northern Ireland is known around the world for its intricately patterned porcelain. This type of china has been manufactured there for over 135 years. The detail on the 65p airmail stamp is from a vase produced in just after World War II and now located in the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

Although all of the other pictorial regionals were printed by gravure, the Northern Ireland issue was printed by lithography because it was better suited for these designs.