Stamp for St Columban – first to articulate a sense of being Irish

22 October 2015

Born on the Carlow/Wexford border, Columban dedicated himself to God from an early age and was a student of Sinell of Cleenish in an island monastery in County Fermanagh’s river Erne.  He later joined Abbot Comgall’s monastery in Bangor, County Down.

In 590 he travelled to France with 12 of his brethren where he established monasteries at Annegray, Luxeuil and Fontaine, at Bregenz in Austria and finally, in 612 at Bobbio in Italy where he lived until his death.  His tomb there is a place of pilgrimage to this day.
The €1.05 stamp (for airmail postage on letters up to 100g anywhere in the world) by Irish designer Steve Simpson features a James Fraher photograph of the Harry Clarke stained-glass window in Mount St Joseph’s Abbey, Roscrea.  It may be viewed and purchased at main post offices including Dublin’s GPO and online at www.irishstamps.ie alongside a special First Day Cover envelope.

Welcoming the anniversary stamp, Fr Seán McDonagh, Director of the Columban Ecological Institute said that this stamp is a landmark in the numerous celebrations which have taken place to honour Columban throughout 2015:
“Many people recognise that Columban was the most important Irish person to make a lasting impact in Europe. Scores of places right across Europe, in Cornwall, Brittany, Eastern France, Austria and Northern Italy honour Columban.  Numerous groups such as Les Amis San Columban draw inspiration from the life and work of Columban and his monks.  Robert Schumann, one of the founders of the European Union, at a Conference in Luxeuil in 1950 to honour Columban, said that he is the patron of all those who were are working to build a united Europe.

Editor’s note:
In a recent article about the Saint’s anniversary year, Fr McDonagh wrote:
Columban is the first Irish person to articulate a sense of what it means to be Irish. In the letter which he wrote to Pope Boniface in 613 A.D, he wrote “we Irish.” The Irish were not held in high esteem in continental Europe during the Roman Empire and even after the collapse of the Empire. Columban and the monks who followed him to Europe in the 6th and 7th centuries changed that perception radically… The fact that within a generation after his death, Jonas of Susa, a monk at Bobbio, wrote the Life of Columbanus is a testimony to the importance of Columban’s legacy in Europe. The UCC historian Dr. Damian Bracken comments that “This is another first: Columbanus is the first Irishman to be the subject of a biography.”

Direct quotes from St Columban:
“If you take away a person freedom, you take away their dignity”
“If you wish to know God, learn about creation”
See www.columban.com  for more information about celebrations to honour Columban