On October 16, 1890, Michael John Collins was born in Woodfield, near Sam's Cross in County Cork - the man whom Ireland will remember as a revolutionary, a politician and one of the architects of the independent state. He was the youngest of eight children in a family of farmers.
Collins went to London in 1906 and began working for the British Post Office. Three years later he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood - a secret organization dedicated to Irish independence. He returned to Ireland in time to take part in the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916. After its suppression, he was sent to the Frongoch camp in Wales, where hundreds of Irish nationalists were detained.
From the underground struggle to negotiations with London
In 1918, Collins was elected as a Sinn Féin MP, and in 1919 he became Minister of Finance in the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. In parallel, he led intelligence for the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence.
His political role became decisive at the end of 1921, when he was among the Irish representatives who negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty with the British government. The Treaty created the Irish Free State, but left Northern Ireland out of it and caused a severe rift among the former allies. The ensuing civil war pitted Collins against some of his former comrades-in-arms.
The National Museum of Ireland describes Collins as the "brains" of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. After the Treaty, he headed the Provisional Government, and in July 1922 took command of the National Army.
The End at Beale na Bla
On 22 August 1922, Collins' convoy was ambushed near Beale na Bla in County Cork. The attack was carried out by opponents of the Treaty during the Civil War. Collins was fatally shot when he was 31 years old. The reasons and exact circumstances surrounding the fatal shot remain the subject of historical controversy, but the site of the murder became one of the symbols of Irish independence.
Neil Jordan's film
His story reached a global audience with the 1996 film “Michael Collins“. The director and screenwriter is Neil Jordan, and the main role is played by Liam Neeson. The cast also includes Alan Rickman as Eamon de Valera, Aidan Quinn as Harry Boland, and Julia Roberts as Kitty Kiernan.
The film follows the period from the Easter Rising of 1916 to Collins' death in 1922. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where the production won the “Golden Lion“, and Neeson received the award for Best Actor. The film was also nominated for two “Oscars” - for cinematography and original dramatic music.
The historical accuracy of the production has been debated since its premiere. Jordan himself defended the artistic approach, saying: “The film is not history and cannot be history.“ Thus, the screen image does not replace Collins' complex biography, but makes his name part of the world's film memory.
Sources: irishtimes.com, washingtonpost.com, irishcentral.com