An Post has issued a special commemorative stamp to mark the centenary of motoring organisation AA Ireland.

The organisation is celebrating "one hundred years of keeping Irish motorists on the road", and has also released previously unseen photos of AA Ireland patrol staff from the mid 1920s.

An Post said it expected demand for its stamp to be high, and that motoring enthusiasts and stamp collectors alike could purchase it at most main post offices, and in the GPO in Dublin, for 55c.

"AA Ireland has come a long way since our first meeting at College Green in 1910, and while we are very much looking ahead on the eve of our next 100 years, what better way to celebrate our legacy than with a stamp depicting one of our legendary saluting AA patrolmen," said Pat Kiely, chief executive of AA Ireland.

The organisation has also dedicated a special section of its website to memories of motoring and Irish roads over the last 100 years, including pictures of the original AA patrol men on their bicycles. The Automobile Association began in Ireland in 1910 when the country had 90,000km of roads and only 7,870 registered motor vehicles. Today, AA Ireland has almost 600,000 Irish customers.