Michael Collins

Michael Collins (16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish leader, rebel and soldier. The guerrilla war of his Irish Volunteers during the Irish War of Independence, 1919-21 against British security forces was characterised by systematic assassinations and terrorism by both sides. He successfully negotiated independence from Britain in 1921, and was suppressing a dissident insurrection during the Irish Civil War when he was ambushed and killed. The Irish public romanticised "The Big Fellow" as a heroic gunman; his saw himself as a soldier; historians see Collins as a revolutionary strategist, spymaster and organiser, a highly energetic administrator, politician, and state-builder.

Early career

Son of a farmer in County Cork, he was recruited into the Irish Republican Brotherhood, the secret rebel movement, at the age of 19. He became aide-de-camp to one of the leaders, Joseph Plunkett.

Easter Rising

During the Easter Rising of 1916, he was one of the occupiers of the General Post Office in Dublin. Following the surrender, he was imprisoned and narrowly escaped execution. During his internment in Wales, his leadership abilities became apparent and he soon became a member of the executive of Sinn Féin and a leader within the Irish Volunteers, soon renamed the "Irish Republican Army" or "I.R.A."

War of Independence

By the start of the Irish War of Independence, Collins had become the most important leader of the I.R.A., but it was a decentralized organization without a chain of command. His famed intelligence service had advance tips on the next moves planned by the British, and played a major role in the stalemating of the much larger British forces. Collins had recruited informers in the Dublin police and especially its 'G' squad, who would telephone to tip him off when a raid was imminent; he had informants in the post office, the customs service, and even in government offices in London.

Anglo-Irish Treaty

The British government, pressured by King George V, decided to negotiate a settlement with Sinn Féin in 1921. At the behest of Sinn Féin leader Éamon de Valera, Collins reluctantly led the delegation to the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations in London. The treaty was a compromise that involved partition of Ireland (which Collins thought would be temporary); and membership in the British Commonwealth, which Collins considered a small matter. He endorsed the treaty but it was unacceptable to de Valera, who led the Irish Civil War to stop it. Collins was primarily responsible for drafting the constitution of the new Irish Free State, based on a commitment to democracy and rule by the majority.

Irish Civil War

By April, 1922, the first shots were fired as de Valera organized the Irish Civil War to stop the treaty. Against this insurrection of so-called "Irregulars" comprising most of the I.R.A., Collins led the Irish Free State's Irish Army, called the "Regulars." Fighting for the pro-Treaty side, Collins hastily organised the new army from a minority of the I.R.A. along with new recruits; it was funded and supplied by the British government. When the Irregulars seized the "Four Courts" law buildings in Dublin in April, Collins waited until late June to counterattack. His move came shortly after the his pro-treaty coalition defeated the anti-treaty coalition at national elections.

The civil war was marked by anarchy and brute force, with unprecedented disorder, loss of life and destruction of property. Criminals used the confusion to rob and loot, as they attacked country houses and businesses. The damage greatly exceeded that of the war against the British. When Irregulars assassinated someone, the Regulars executed prisoners in reprisal. Women and children were used as decoys, women as gunmen; gunmen in mufti carried out ambushes and made attacks with pistols and grenades in crowded streets; as often as not the casualties were innocent passers-by.

Collins was killed in an ambush in Béal na mBláth, County Cork, on 22nd August, 1922, but his much better organised army went on to defeat the poorly led insurgents, ending the civil war in 1923.

See also

• Easter Rising
• Irish War of Independence

Bibliography

• Bowden, Tom. "The Irish Underground and the War of Independence 1919-21." Journal of Contemporary History 1973 8(2): 3-23. Issn: 0022-0094 Fulltext: in Jstor
• Coogan, Tim Pat. The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins. Palgrave Macmillan, 1992, 1996, 2002 editions. 510 pp. online excerpt and search
• Dwyer, R. Ryle. Michael Collins: The Man Who Won the War (1990)
• Forester, Margery. Michael Collins: The Lost Leader (2d ed. 1989)
• Foy, Michael T. Michael Collins's Intelligence War: The Struggle between the British and the IRA, 1919-1921 (2006)
• Gleeson, James. Bloody Sunday: How Michael Collins's Agents Assassinated Britain's Secret Service in Dublin on November 21, 1920 (2004) online excerpt and search
• Hart, Peter. Mick: The Real Michael Collins Penguin, (2007), 512pp; revisionist reinterpretation stresses organizational structures online excerpt and search
• Mackay, James. Michael Collins: A Life. North Pomfret, Vermont: Trafalgar Square, 1997. 320 pp.
• Mowat, Charles Loch. Britain between the Wars, 1918-1940. 1955. online edition
• Murphy, John F., Jr. "Michael Collins and the Craft of Intelligence." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 2004 17(2): 333-357. Issn: 0885-0607, not online
• Regan, John M. "Michael Collins, General Commanding-in-chief, as a Historiographical Problem" History 2007 92(3): 318-346. Issn: 0018-2648 Fulltext: Ebsco