150th Anniversary of the First Transatlantic Message by Cable from Europe to America - Ireland

Date of Issue: 15 August 2008
Denomination: 82c
On 16 August 1858, the first official transatlantic cable message from Europe to America was sent by Britain's Queen Victoria to James Buchanan, President of the United States. Part of this 99-word message expressed the fond hope that the cable itself would be 'an additional link between the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and reciprocal esteem'. It was the culmination of a struggle to establish a telegraphic link between the two continents of Europe and America.