FAI, originally founded in Munich in 1982 by collectors of Irish stamps, soon expanded into other aspects of Irish postal activities. Indeed FAI members dealt with all fields of the Irish philately. Postal history, old postal routes, postage rates and especially postmarks play an important role. British issues used in Ireland are sought after by many specialists. A book of its own about the use of the Maltese cross in Ireland was written by an FAI member. Old cancelling machines were a subject of research, too. The close relations to the big neighbour in the east of Ireland automatically directed the view to the British regulations. Ireland was at that time part of the United Kingdom. Other FAI collectors draw their attention to special topics such as censored envelopes, mail by prisoners of war from the camps of both world wars, or to the few but highly exciting weeks of Ireland's transition period to independence in spring 1922, or to the International Reply Coupons, or to the fiscal stamps. Postal stationery as a field of collecting has more and more established its position as a result of intensive research by FAI.

Since the Post Office has heavily dug into collectors' pockets many who are mainly interested in modern issues have concentrated on definitive series in all variations.

The diversity of interests has led to the consequence that a lot of members have developed into specialists in their field of collecting and offer their help to collectors and examine material that is difficult to classify. You find the names and addresses of these specialists in another part of our homepage.

As a result of this research, FAI has published a widespread literature series with 26 volumes within the period of 25 years. That is unique in the world of Irish collector societies. As a special achievement we proudly emphasize this - we give all our books to each member free of cost in the year it is published.
As we are a society with members everywhere in the world (more than 260 collectors in 16 countries) our quarterly published journal "Die HARFE" (i.e. the HARP) - is the main link to our members. On more than 200 pages per year we offer our readers articles which are mostly written by FAI members. Contributions by everybody are welcome. We have never had a lack of material to be published. Each member can advertise in Die HARFE free of cost.

As a consequence of our world wide activities, all our publications have been bilingual German-English for many years. We think that English as the "lingua franca" of our time is understood everywhere.

We have auctions four times a year, in which up to 500 lots are offered. The collector with a small purse finds what he can afford, but also prices of hundreds of Euros are possible.

Our new issue service offers for everybody whatever kind of special material she or he wants.

The FAI book service does not only sell books of the FAI literature series and Die HARFE but also has a wide offer of publications of other origin in stock or tries to find them.

Rare books which collectors do not want to buy or which are no longer available can be borrowed from our Manfred Dittmann library. Only postage has to be paid for this service.

FAI is in contact with associate societies in Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Switzerland and America. FAI is a member of the Society of German Philatelists. A lot of FAI members participate in national and international exhibitions showing their collections and literature productions as exhibits.

Just as the Irish do, FAI likes sociability and enjoys company. Our Annual General Meetings, take place in various destinations in Germany and are well attended every year:
2000 in Xanten at the Rhine
2001 in Königs Wusterhausen near Berlin
2002 in Hersbruck in Bavaria
2003 in Norden-Norddeich at the North Sea
2004 in Kirchheimbolanden, region of Pfalz
2005 in Sandebeck near Paderborn
2006 in Zeltingen-Rachtig at the river Mosel
2007 in Herrsching at the Ammersee
2008 in Groß Meckelsen in Lower Saxony
2009 in Oberaula in Hesse
2010 in Ascheberg near Münster
2011 in Hirschberg-Großsachsen
2012 in Wernigerode

We always care for an attractive non-philatelic programme to satisfy our non-collecting partners.

We have regional chapters in most areas of Germany, which arrange interesting and comfortable meetings on a smaller scale at irregular intervals.

It need not be emphasized that most of us like the Irish culture and the country, are fond of Guinness and spend their holidays more often in Ireland than non-members do. Some have altogether moved to Ireland to earn their living or to spend their years of retirement on the isle.

The National Irish Stamp Exhibition Stampa in Dublin is a very special attraction for many FAI members. Here we meet our long-standing Irish and English friends.