On August 22, 1922, Ireland mourned the loss of a beloved patriot. Two months shy of turning thirty-two Michael Collins was assassinated in an ambush at Beal na mBlath (the mouth of flowers). During his short but extremely radical political life, Michael Collins accomplished the impossible by creating an Irish Free State. Collins spent his entire adult life fighting for freedom. He is remembered as the first urban guerrilla, then for laying the foundations of a state and negotiating its independence, was chairman of its Provisional Government, and then its commander in Chief of its armed forces when it was plunged into a civil war. He had the support of the Irish people and created an army to ensure that the people of Ireland would be able to keep hold of that freedom they so preciously fought for. His death is still shrouded in mystery and there are conflicting accounts of the ambush. We will look at Ireland's great patriot, his life, his work, and his death and see what one man can do for the love of his country.
To gain a better insight and understanding of Michael Collins one must be aware of his life from the very beginning to see how his upbringing shaped his political views and helped create a new country. Collins was born on October 16, 1890, near Sam's Cross, a tiny hamlet in West Cork, Ireland. He was the youngest out of eight children and grew up on the family's impressive 90-acre farm. Collins father, Michael Collins senior, died when Collins was only six years old. His father was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.). His father's relationship with the I.R.B would have lasting effects on Collins as he would eventually join and become president of the I.R.B. Another instrumental force in creating the nationalistic Collins was a local schoolteacher, Denis Lyons, who was very radical and stern in his beliefs in Irish independence and a member of the I.R.B. These men were guides for Collins on his path on being Irish and helped steer him to the road of rebellion.
