Lions Club stamp marks 100 years

An Post has just launched a new stamp to celebrate the founding of Lions Clubs International and it features the images of two Cork people, one of whom is a former Gaelic football great.

The philanthropic organisation, which was founded in Chicago in 1917, has 2,700 members in 116 clubs across Ireland.

The €1.35 stamp, which covers a standard letter postage anywhere in the world, was designed by Dublin company Red Dog and features a photograph from the annual Lions Holiday Project, which takes place in Trabolgan, Co Cork, every year. It is one of the single biggest annual Lions projects anywhere in the world.

The stamp features Lions club volunteer and past president of Cork Lions Club, Der Cogan. The retired army officer played with victorious Coláiste Chroist Rí, Nemo Rangers, and Cork football teams in his younger years. He’s pictured chatting to Annie Cronin, from Douglas, who was one of the attendees invited to last year’s event in Trabolgan.

With their motto “We Serve”, the Lions Clubs organise projects to help vulnerable and elderly people within their communities, and they undertake humanitarian work such as aiding street children, providing diabetic screening and preventing suicide and blindness.

Paul Allen, district governor of Lions Clubs International in Ireland, said: “It is a great honour to have a Lions Clubs stamp issued to mark the centenary of our organisation. In the 60 years that Lions have operated in Ireland our membership has grown, based on serving the needs of local communities.”