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                              ******COVID UPDATE ON IRISH STAMPS ISSUED IN 2023*******

                Irish stamps from 21/3/2023 will generally be Self-adhesive & in smaller sheet format  
                                      FDC's still have no insert card, just printing info on reverse.
                               
 
                                            Ireland:  2023~Sean O'Casey's 3 Dublin Plays Sheetlet of 9
                       
                   On March 21, An Post issued three stamps to honour one of Ireland’s 
               greatest literary figures, Sean O’Casey.
               Born in Dublin in 1880, O’Casey’s working class background strongly                               influenced his writings. His three Dublin plays, which are the subject
               of the ‘N’ denomination stamps, focus on different events that affected 
               the lives of ordinary Dubliners. These special issues vividly capture
               the unique appeal of these theatrical classics.
               The Shadow of a Gunman was O’Casey’s first play to be accepted 
               by the Abbey Theatre in 1923. The play dealt with the impact of 
               revolutionary politics on Dublin’s slums and their inhabitants. An 
               instant success, it established his career as a playwright.
               A year later, Juno and the Paycock, became the first play at the 
               Abbey Theatre to run for more than one week. This play dealt with
               the effect of the Irish Civil War on the poor of the city.
               In 1926, The Plough and the Stars featured at the Abbey Theatre. 
               This time the story was set in Dublin around the 1916 Rising. It is 
               considered to be among O’Casey’s most autobiographical works 
               (he was actively involved in the organisation of the Irish Citizen Army). 
                It is also remembered for a controversial riot at the theatre during its staging.

                O’Casey’s three Dublin plays were widely acknowledged, including 
                ultimately by WB Yeats, to have sustained the Abbey Theatre in its 
                early years. They balanced deeply comic and tragic elements in the 
                context of the stark realism of the tumultuous period in question.

                                                                          This is the Self-adhesive Sheetlet of 9 MNH