The Enduring Legacy Of Michael Collins 100 Years On

21 August 2022
ShareSave


Luke SprouleBBC News NI


"What if Michael Collins had lived?"


That is the concern every visitor to the Michael Collins Centre and Museum in Castleview, County Cork, wishes to ask, according to its joint founder Tim Crowley.


Monday marks 100 years considering that Collins was eliminated in a weapon fight between completing sides in the Irish Civil War.


A century on, there remains a substantial interest in "the Big Fella", his function in Irish independence and his long-lasting tradition.


"A lot of our visitors are middle-aged and some have parents and grandparents who were involved 100 years earlier," says Mr Crowley, whose grandmother was Collins' cousin.


"But then we likewise have got 14 and 15 years of age who are huge Collins enthusiasts who are available in who understand what he had for his last breakfast.


"They toss some truly great questions at us."


Thousands to participate in Michael Collins celebration


Collins was a crucial figure in the fight for Irish self-reliance and was director of intelligence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the War of Independence with Britain, which lasted from January 1919 up until July 1921.


But the regards to the peace treaty with Britain, which he signed, were very controversial and resulted in a civil war which broke out in June 1922, with the IRA splitting into professional and anti-treaty factions.


Collins was commander-in-chief of the pro-treaty forces, which became the new Irish National Army, however on 22 August 1922 while he was travelling through his home county of Cork his convoy was ambushed by anti-treaty fighters.


Collins left his car to combat and in the gun fight which followed he was shot dead.


He was 31 years old.


At the time of his death he was chairman of the provisional federal government of the brand-new Irish Free State, in addition to leader of its militaries.


To this day individuals wonder what might have been if he had actually endured and gone on to lead the new state.


"People ask would he have attempted to produce a 32 county settlement? Would he have enabled nationalists in the northern state to have been dealt with the way they were?" Mr Crowley states.


"I think he was the one leader at that time that the proof suggests had real interest in the northern situation.


"In his mind the treaty was simply the beginning."


He believes Collins would have been more strong when it came to the Boundary Commission, which was planned to pick where the new border in between the Irish Free State and must lie.


In the end, although the commission suggested little transfers of land in both instructions, its suggestions were never carried out and the border remained the very same as it was in 1921.


Lock of Michael Collins' hair to be auctioned


How the Irish Civil War appeared 100 years earlier


The civil war left a bitter tradition in Irish society, particularly the execution of dozens of anti-treaty fighters by the brand-new provisional government.


The first official executions were brought out in November 1922 and they continued up until May 1923.


But Prof Marie Coleman, professor of 20th Century Irish history at Queen's University, Belfast, does not believe this would have been any various had actually Collins not been killed.


"There has actually been a lot of speculation that the course of the civil war might have been different, that possibly the acrimony of the executions might have been different," she says.


"I see absolutely nothing to recommend that Collins would have prosecuted the war any differently.


"Arguably, he had more at stake in safeguarding the treaty settlement since he had actually been a signatory of the treaty.


"He showed nothing between June and August 1922 to recommend that he would have been any softer on the republican side than Richard Mulcahy was after him."


Collins' killing came simply 10 days after the death of Arthur Griffith - another crucial figure in the defend Irish independence.


Other popular leaders such as Éamon De Valera were now on the anti-treaty side.


But Prof Coleman states those who filled the vacuum were likewise capable leaders.


"Griffith was changed by WT Cosgrave who was most likely the most skilled political leader in Sinn Féin," she says.


"Collins was changed by Richard Mulcahy, who had actually been the chief of staff of the IRA during the War of Independence.


"So probably, in fact, he knew more about running the army than Collins would have done."


There is still no arrangement on who fired the deadly shot that eliminated Collins, which has actually left area for a range of theories and conspiracies.


Mr Crowley states the occasions of Collins' final day are the most popular part of the museum and centre which he runs, with visitors constantly keen to inquire about who was accountable for his death.


"People are captivated by the truth he passed away the way he did," he states.


"He died a hero's death with a weapon in his hand, you could not make it up."


What was the Anglo-Irish Treaty?


The crucial figures on totally free state's roadway to civil war


On Sunday, Mr Crowley will attend the official ceremonies and on Monday the centre is running a journey to a number of locations connected with Collins, including the scene of his death at Béal na Bláth where they will hold a minute's silence at the time Collins was shot.


Among the more questionable aspects of Collins' legacy stays the fact he consented to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.


It produced the Irish Free State however within the British Empire and with the British King as head of state, who Irish TDs (MPs) were needed to swear an oath of allegiance to.


It also validated the partition of Ireland and the creation of Northern Ireland.


"Some people say to us that Michael Collins was not a republican," Mr Crowley says.


"But I would state he was a pragmatic republican with a plan that might really prosper.


"He was the sort of leader who only occurs for a nation as soon as in a thousand years."