 Postal stationery have been produced in the form of registered envelopes , postal cards , envelopes , letter cards , newspaper wrappers , airletters and telegram forms with different designs of impressed stamp applied to show that postage had been pre @-@ paid . Except for limited early usage of previously issued British postal stationery , which were not overprinted like the postage stamps , all post @-@ paid impressed stamps before 1984 were based on variations of a design showing the country 's name in Irish , Éire , with appropriate values in text and numeral tablets centred around an Irish harp motif . This was initially superseded by a shamrock design that later became loosely based on the logo of wavy lines and the word POST used by An Post from 1984 . An Post has also used some designs based on postage stamps as post @-@ paid impressed stamps on Irish postal stationery . 
