Revenue stamps of the United Kingdom
When Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland in 1921, separate revenue stamps were issued for both entities. Southern Ireland stamps saw little use since that political entity was quickly superseded by the Provisional Government of Ireland and later the Irish Free State (both of which applied overprints on various British and Irish revenue stamps). However, Northern Ireland continued to use separate revenue stamps until the 1980s. Northern Irish revenues include Civil Service, Dog Licence, Excise and National Insurance stamps, among many others.
Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922
Partition was formally established with the Government of Ireland Act 1920. This also established the Parliament of Northern Ireland, which came into being the following year. Partition was followed by high levels of inter-communal violence, especially in Belfast. The Irish Republican Army, although it spent most of these years fighting in the Irish Civil War, aimed to use armed force to end partition and compel the United Kingdom to withdraw sovereignty from Northern Ireland.