The Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on the 6th of December 1922 to end the Irish War of Independence and declare Ireland as an autonomous state, free from English rule. The south of Ireland would now embrace twenty-six counties, then known as the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland, comprising six counties, remained governed by the English.
In February 1922, James Joseph Walsh, Postmaster-General of the provisional Irish government, launched a competition to design postage stamps for the Irish Free State. The designs had to be characteristically symbolic and have inscriptions in Gaelic characters. A prize of £25 was offered for each accepted design. Four designs were accepted.
The first stamp issued was a 2d stamp, designed by James Ingram, that featured a map of Ireland without showing the border between Southern and Northern Ireland. The design thus making a political statement. The map of Ireland appeared within a Romanesque arch, over which can be seen the shamrock and further Celtic ornaments.
The second accepted design was by John J. O’Reilly. It featured the Sword of Light (in Gaelic An Claidheamh Soluis) in a frame set against animalistic ornaments. The Sword of Light appears in Gaelic tales from Ireland and Scotland. In Irish folk tales, typically, the sword appears as a quest item. The tales often involve the hero’s would-be bride or lost bride. An Claidheamh Soluis also was the name of the journal of the Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge). Among its editors was Pádraig Anraí Mac Piarais, one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.
The accepted design by Lily Williams featured a Celtic Cross (Cros Cheilteach) surrounded by shamrocks. The design is based on the twelfth-century Cross of Cong (Cros Chonga) made for the High King of Ireland, Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (ca. 1120–1156).
The final accepted design by Millicent Grace Girling featured a shield with the arms of the old Irish fifths (cúigí) against a background of shamrocks and zoomorphic ornaments. These fifths were the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland. After Leinster (Laighin) and Mide (Mhídhe) had merged, four provinces remained. Clockwise starting with the north-east quarter appear the arms of Connacht (Cúige Chonnacht), Munster (Cúige Mumhan), Ulster (Cúige Uladh), and Leinster (Cúige Laighean).
