The Forschungs- und Arbeitsgemeinschaft Irland (FAI – Research and Study Group on Irish Philately) is a registered society, a member of the Bund Deutscher Philatelisten (Association of German Philatelists), and is engaged in Irish

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. Philately involves more than just stamp collecting or the study of postage; it is poss ...

. The FAI was founded on 24 July 1982 by Frank Holzmüller in order to establish a platform for research and communication for all those interested in Irish philately in the

German Federal Republic BRD (german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; English: FRG/Federal Republic of Germany) is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. It ...

. Since then the society has become international. The more than 200 members (by 2013) come from four continents and the majority not from Germany. Heinz-Jürgen Kumpf has been President of the FAI since May 2007. The FAI keeps in touch with the other philatelic Ireland societies all over the world and cooperates with the Irish postal administration

An Post (; literally 'The Post') is the state-owned provider of postal services in Ireland. An Post provides a "universal postal service" to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union. Services provided include letter post, p ...

. The members meet regularly at regional meetings and the Annual General Meeting, which take place in all parts of Germany. The society publishes the members’ magazine ''Die Harfe'' (The Harp) three times per year. All aspects of Irish philately are treated in more than 200 pages annually. The first 30 volumes are also available digitally, on DVD or

USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since firs ...

. In particular, the magazine deals with Irish

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

. It encompasses, among others, old postal routes, the transport of mail on board overseas

steamboats A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

, national and international postal fees, and the Maltese Cross postmarks used in Ireland. Documentation of the postal history of the Irish independence movement is also an important field. Furthermore, the FAI researches the use of postmark machines, military postal history, postal censorship and post from

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

, Irish postal stationery,

international reply coupon An international reply coupon (IRC) is a coupon that can be exchanged for one or more postage stamps representing the minimum postage for an unregistered priority airmail letter of up to twenty grams sent to another Universal Postal Union (UPU) m ...

s, and

revenue stamp A revenue stamp, tax stamp, duty stamp or fiscal stamp is a (usually) adhesive label used to designate collected taxes or fees on documents, tobacco, alcoholic drinks, drugs and medicines, playing cards, hunting licenses, firearm registration, ...

s. The FAI publishes

philatelic literature Philatelic literature is written material relating to philately, primarily information about postage stamps and postal history. Background to philatelic literature Philatelic literature is held by stamp collectors and dealers, philatelic soci ...

; as of 2014 a series of 30 volumes have been released. By publishing this series, the FAI contributes to the progress of philatelic research in the field of Irish postal history. In the year of publication, all FAI members receive a copy of the new volume either for free or at a special rate, depending on the number of pages and retail price. FAI members can consult FAI experts on many different fields of Irish philately. Since the mid-1990s, all publications (the members’ magazine as well as the novelties in the publication series) are edited completely bilingual in German and English. The publications of the FAI thus constitute an important link between the German- and the English-speaking philatelists and are accessible for collectors and researchers in the field of Irish philately all over the world with no language barrier.Cf. Otto Jung, ''Geleitwort/Greetings.'' In: FAI (Hg.): ''25 Jahre FAI/25 Years FAI, 1982–2007.'' no place 2007, pp. 5–6, here p. 6.

References

External links

{{official website, http://www.fai-germany.de Philatelic organizations Philately of Ireland

See also

References

External links