In Depth

Who Was Michael Collins?

Much of County Cork, and particularly the little town of Clonakilty, seems obsessed with Michael Collins, but when you learn a bit about him, you can understand why. Collins, also known as "the Big Fella," was one of the heroes of the Irish struggle for independence -- the commander in chief of the army of the Irish Free State, which, under his command, won the republic's independence from Britain in 1921.

Collins was born in 1890 and, along with his seven brothers and sisters, was raised on a farm in Sam's Cross, just outside Clonakilty. He emigrated to England at 15 and, like many other young Irish men, found work in London. In his 20s, he joined the Irish revolutionary group, the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He first came to fame in 1916, as one of the planners and leaders of the Easter Uprising, fighting alongside Patrick Pearse at the General Post Office in Dublin. It may have roused passions among the population, but the Rising was a military disaster, and Collins -- young but clever -- railed against its amateurism. He was furious about the seizure of prominent buildings -- such as the GPO -- that were impossible to defend, impossible to escape from, and difficult to get supplies into.

After the battle, Collins was arrested and sent to an internment camp in Britain, along with hundreds of other rebels. There his stature within the I.R.B. grew, and by the time he was released, he had become one of the leaders of the Republican movement. In 1918, he was elected a member of the British Parliament, but like many other Irish members, refused to go to London, instead announcing that he would sit only in an Irish parliament in Dublin. Most of the rebel Irish M.P.s (including Eamon de Valera) were arrested by British troops for their actions, but Collins avoided arrest, and later helped de Valera escape from prison. Over the subsequent years, de Valera and Collins worked together to create an Irish state.

After lengthy negotiations and much bloodshed (Collins orchestrated an assassination that essentially wiped out the British secret service in Ireland), Collins was sent by de Valera in 1921 to negotiate a treaty with the British government. In the meeting, British Prime Minister Lloyd George agreed to allow Ireland to become a free republic, as long as that republic did not include the counties of Ulster. Those largely Protestant counties would join Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom. Knowing he could not get more at the time, and hoping to renegotiate later, Collins reluctantly agreed to sign the treaty, deciding that it was time to stop the bloodshed. (Along with Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, then a government minister, also signed the treaty.) After signing the document Collins said, "I have just signed my death warrant."

As he'd expected, the plan tore the new Republic apart, dividing the group now known as the IRA into two factions -- those who wanted to continue fighting for all of Ireland, and those who favored the treaty. Fighting soon broke out in Dublin, and the civil war was underway.

Collins had learned many lessons from the Easter debacle, and now his strategy was completely different. His soldiers operated as "flying columns," waging a guerrilla war against the enemy -- suddenly attacking, and then just as suddenly withdrawing, thus minimizing their losses, and leaving the opposition never knowing what to expect next, but the battle stretched on for 10 months.

In August 1922, Collins was weary of the war, and was on a peace mission in his home county. After visiting various factions, and stopping at a pub near his mother's birthplace, he and his escort were on the road near Béal na mBláth when Collins was shot and killed. Precisely who killed him -- whether it was his own men or the opposition -- is not known. He had made, on his rapid rise to the top, too many enemies. He was 31 years old.