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Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland
'The unofficial voice of modern Irish history' Economist When President of the Irish Republic Michael Collins signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, he remarked to Lord Birkenhead, 'I may have signed my actual death warrant.' In August 1922 at the height of the Irish Civil War, that prophecy came true - Collins was shot and killed by a fellow Irishman in a shocking political assassination. So ended the life of the greatest of all Irish nationalists, but his visions and legacy lived on. This authoritative and comprehensive biography presents the life of a man who became a legend in his own lifetime, whose idealistic vigor and determination were matched only by his political realism and supreme organizational abilities. Coogan's biography provides a fascinating insight into a great political leader, whilst vividly portraying the political unrest in a divided Ireland, that can help to shape our understanding of Ireland's past, present and future. 'There have been several other lives of Collins, but none has assembled such wealth of detail' Independent on Sunday This description may be from another edition of this product.
480 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 1990
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About the author
Tim Pat Coogan
50 books243 followersTimothy Patrick Coogan is an Irish historical writer, broadcaster and newspaper columnist. He served as editor of the Irish Press newspaper from 1968 to 1987. Today, he is best known for his popular and sometimes controversial books on aspects of modern Irish history, including The IRA, Ireland Since the Rising, On the Blanket, and biographies of Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
August 12, 2016
This was a difficult book to get through for a couple of reasons. First, the writing and then second, the history itself. The writing. I read a book by this author last year concerning the Irish Starvation of the mid 19th century and found that book quite compelling. That book tells me that this author does know how to write so I am puzzled by what I encountered in this book. There were numerous lengthy sentences liberally sprinkled with commas that made it difficult to understand who was talking or what was being described. I had to read these sentences several times to make sense of them and then wondered if it was worth the trouble since many of the discussions and events seemed rather trivial. I am guessing that the author's problem was the material he had to work with and the type of events depicted in this history. Initially it should be pointed out that it appears the author is the son of a veteran of this turbulent time so his objectivity may be open to question. The author refers repeatedly to this time as a "war" and specifically as the "Anglo-Irish War". After reading this book this was no war as I understand the use of that term in history. This was a campaign of terrorism and counter-terrorism. Much of what the author describes was, to me, like reading of the activities of contemporary street gang running up and down alleys at night approaching unsuspecting targets and shooting them in the head. Such acts would then be responded to by government officers storming into the homes of yet more unsuspecting innocent parties and shooting them in their beds. There were no heroes in this conflict on either side and this was another part of my difficulty. Nevertheless, the author needed to convey to the reader what exactly happened and he tried to do this. I suspect he had an abundance of source material and struggled to ensure the activities of what he might have considered to be patriotic acts were properly preserved and noted of record in his book. Sadly, there were a great many of these acts committed by people who were mentioned briefly and then had it noted that they were subsequently arrested or killed, or executed and were never mentioned again. This problem then occurred again when the author recounts the negotiations between the Irish and the English government. It seems like we are subjected to reading every note, diary, memorandum, telegram etc. that passed between the various parties throughout this process. It would have been far more advantageous to the reader had the author synthesized this material and then described the significance and critical stages of the process leading to its conclusion. Again, the reader is subjected to numerous run-on sentences littered with commas. It was, at times, quite maddening. But all was not lost. In the second half of the book, after the conclusion of the negotiations, the writing improves and the author's ability is demonstrated. This is the period during the early stages of the Irish Free State and the civil war that ultimately claims Collins' life.
The second difficulty I had, as I mentioned, is with the history itself. Thanks to my grandparents I have dual citizenship with Ireland and I am proud of that. It is this heritage that has induced me to learn more about the country of my grandparents. While this book is supposed to be a biography of Michael Collins and it is, it is also a fairly detailed history of the formation of the independence of Ireland in the early 20th century. There is a quote in the book attributed to Eamon de Valera as he comments on the death of an adversary "I do not approve but I must not pretend I do not understand". This history is brutal, barbaric, and completely outside the realm of accepted military behavior in or out of a war time environment. However, I enjoy reading British history and more than slightly familiar with their colonial activities. The English colonial history is a monument to ineptitude, arrogance, racism, exploitation, and brutality. It reads as though any life that wasn't English and, better yet, English nobility was something less than significant or worthy. The English conduct during the Irish Starvation of the 1840's was about as close to a government sanctioned genocide as it could get. To win their independence from the English yoke the Irish were never going to be able to create and field a conventional army and conduct a conventional war. Terrorism was their only alternative and the English certainly made that option very easy for them to take. The things that were done lead to retaliation and escalating acts of brutality and revenge. I can understand how this author can desire to paint these men and women as patriots and thus give his national history a nobility it should have but the acts are what they are and they are hard to accept and to read. This is a sad history and in de Valera's word I can't approve but I do understand.
The second difficulty I had, as I mentioned, is with the history itself. Thanks to my grandparents I have dual citizenship with Ireland and I am proud of that. It is this heritage that has induced me to learn more about the country of my grandparents. While this book is supposed to be a biography of Michael Collins and it is, it is also a fairly detailed history of the formation of the independence of Ireland in the early 20th century. There is a quote in the book attributed to Eamon de Valera as he comments on the death of an adversary "I do not approve but I must not pretend I do not understand". This history is brutal, barbaric, and completely outside the realm of accepted military behavior in or out of a war time environment. However, I enjoy reading British history and more than slightly familiar with their colonial activities. The English colonial history is a monument to ineptitude, arrogance, racism, exploitation, and brutality. It reads as though any life that wasn't English and, better yet, English nobility was something less than significant or worthy. The English conduct during the Irish Starvation of the 1840's was about as close to a government sanctioned genocide as it could get. To win their independence from the English yoke the Irish were never going to be able to create and field a conventional army and conduct a conventional war. Terrorism was their only alternative and the English certainly made that option very easy for them to take. The things that were done lead to retaliation and escalating acts of brutality and revenge. I can understand how this author can desire to paint these men and women as patriots and thus give his national history a nobility it should have but the acts are what they are and they are hard to accept and to read. This is a sad history and in de Valera's word I can't approve but I do understand.
August 22, 2011
Coogan's book is so focused on the minutiae that it winds up turning the entire story of the Irish revolution into a clinical breakdown of "he-said/she-said." Its a long, difficult, generally boring read about a story that is in no way boring or dull. Best example - Coogan dedicates about 5 pages to "Bloody Sunday" and about 50 pages to the minor squabbles over the wording of the Anglo-Irish treaty. Brutal. There are pages and pages of direct source quotes and TONS of name-drops of incidental characters and first-hand witnesses, that, while impressive from a research standpoint, doesn't add much to the story. I was really disappointed with this book, but I suppose if you have an advanced knowledge (or lived through) the Revolution this might be enlightening.
July 2, 2021
If this book has a flaw, it is in trying to fit too much in. There were quite a few places where I felt overwhelmed at the amount of information in the text, with names, acronyms, events, and facts all being relentlessly hurled in my direction.
That apart, this is a well written and well researched biography of a crucial figure in Irish history. It is sympathetic, but not uncritical (the reverse being true of its attitude towards Eamon de Valera).
So, actually, 3 1/2 stars again. Recommended, if you can take it.
That apart, this is a well written and well researched biography of a crucial figure in Irish history. It is sympathetic, but not uncritical (the reverse being true of its attitude towards Eamon de Valera).
So, actually, 3 1/2 stars again. Recommended, if you can take it.
April 22, 2017
To date, this is the single best volume that’s been written about Collins, and it’s a meal. I purchased this title on an annual pilgrimage to Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon when I was there to visit family a few years ago. Although the length of the book is listed as 480 pages in paperback, the reader needs to come prepared. The type is tiny and dense, and it took me a long time to wade through it. If it were formatted using more standard guidelines, it would be a great deal longer.
As I write this review I am halfway through Coogan’s epic history of the IRA (Irish Republican Army), and the style in which he writes is consistent in both books. Coogan tells us everything that is historically important, and he also tells us everything else he finds out, with no apparent filtering. His writing is half Irish history, half family Bible in the sense that if someone was briefly or peripherally involved with Collins, their proud relatives can probably find that person and his or her historical role somewhere in these pages. His shoe size is here, and the names of every girl he flirted with. For a man that lived so briefly, he left a large shadow, and the author was plainly unwilling to let even the tiniest bit of research go to waste, relevant or no.
I am somewhat surprised that Collins doesn’t rate more favorably with the author, given that his name is the one most associated with the creation of an independent Ireland. But Coogan does due diligence in establishing the brutality of the British occupiers, who killed indiscriminately with the use of terror. At one point, soldiers opened fire on a school yard where little children were at play; these royal ambassadors were the original school shooters, killing six little ones for being Catholic. In the protests that followed, women and girls knelt before British tanks and said their rosaries for those that had been killed for their Fenian identities.
The Irish freedom struggle took place at a time when the whole world was on fire. The Russian Revolution was unfurling with breathtaking speed; at the same time, there was no established Marxist revolution to look to for guidance, and Irish freedom fighters had no single idea of what political ideology should shape the struggle. Most of the revolutionaries were barely old enough to shave, and a lot of errors were made because of this lack of clear vision. The results were often tragic.
There’s an interesting discussion of whether Irishmen should become German allies during World War I. There is a strong resistance to becoming shills for the British, and so the question, then, is whether to remain neutral, or take the side of Britain’s enemy in the hope of receiving reciprocal assistance. In the end, nobody was organized enough, in this era of little technology, to come up with a cohesive plan, so the point was a moot one.
Should you read this biography? I think it depends upon how much time you have, and how strong your interest level is. One consideration might be to purchase it as a reference volume and flip through it to tease out the most relevant information, but be forewarned: sifting through the minutiae is not an easy enterprise. For researchers, the photos alone might be of interest, since they constitute primary documents.
Recommended for those with strong basic knowledge of Irish history that want to flesh out the details, and for those building a reference library.
As I write this review I am halfway through Coogan’s epic history of the IRA (Irish Republican Army), and the style in which he writes is consistent in both books. Coogan tells us everything that is historically important, and he also tells us everything else he finds out, with no apparent filtering. His writing is half Irish history, half family Bible in the sense that if someone was briefly or peripherally involved with Collins, their proud relatives can probably find that person and his or her historical role somewhere in these pages. His shoe size is here, and the names of every girl he flirted with. For a man that lived so briefly, he left a large shadow, and the author was plainly unwilling to let even the tiniest bit of research go to waste, relevant or no.
I am somewhat surprised that Collins doesn’t rate more favorably with the author, given that his name is the one most associated with the creation of an independent Ireland. But Coogan does due diligence in establishing the brutality of the British occupiers, who killed indiscriminately with the use of terror. At one point, soldiers opened fire on a school yard where little children were at play; these royal ambassadors were the original school shooters, killing six little ones for being Catholic. In the protests that followed, women and girls knelt before British tanks and said their rosaries for those that had been killed for their Fenian identities.
The Irish freedom struggle took place at a time when the whole world was on fire. The Russian Revolution was unfurling with breathtaking speed; at the same time, there was no established Marxist revolution to look to for guidance, and Irish freedom fighters had no single idea of what political ideology should shape the struggle. Most of the revolutionaries were barely old enough to shave, and a lot of errors were made because of this lack of clear vision. The results were often tragic.
There’s an interesting discussion of whether Irishmen should become German allies during World War I. There is a strong resistance to becoming shills for the British, and so the question, then, is whether to remain neutral, or take the side of Britain’s enemy in the hope of receiving reciprocal assistance. In the end, nobody was organized enough, in this era of little technology, to come up with a cohesive plan, so the point was a moot one.
Should you read this biography? I think it depends upon how much time you have, and how strong your interest level is. One consideration might be to purchase it as a reference volume and flip through it to tease out the most relevant information, but be forewarned: sifting through the minutiae is not an easy enterprise. For researchers, the photos alone might be of interest, since they constitute primary documents.
Recommended for those with strong basic knowledge of Irish history that want to flesh out the details, and for those building a reference library.
June 29, 2025
it took me a while to get through this. At times it can be dense and it is filled to the brim with block quotations (which normally I loathe) but the history included here is heavy and at times exhilarating to read. This is not simply a history of Michael Collins it is certainly much broader than that. I would also argue this is not necessarily beginner friendly and one should try and have a bit of background before diving into this, it is also worth noting that some of this can be taken with grains of salt while Coogan undoubtedly provides a great picture , there are conflicting notions of certain relationships and understanding that it is easy to see where some may criticize this book. That said however, it is nothing short of a fantastic read on one of the Giants to walk the Earth.
September 11, 2015
A brilliant, if difficult, read. The book requires a hefty familiarity with Irish history (and at times, geography), so it's not the first book on Irish history one should pick up. However, if you're looking for a detailed and incisive look at the formation of the Free State, the military actions that came before it, and the political wrangling that happened during the treaty process, this is your book. The tensions between Collins and de Valera are the central theme of the later 2/3rds of the book, and it's a story well told. The author is an unabashed Collins partisan, and that side-taking is unusual in someone so diligent at sourcing and citing his finds. I understand he's also written a biography of de Valera, which I'm very tempted by. He clearly doesn't think well of the man; I'll be interested to see if he can give him a similar thorough and understanding treatment. This is a particularly valuable read for people interested in the histories of successful and unsuccessful insurgencies, but it's very steeped in Irishness and that was a great part of its charm to me. I'll definitely seek out more of the author's work.
April 15, 2009
A relatively good book, but with some interesting problems. The fact of the matter is that while reading about the IRA and the British occupation force, one is left with a striking realization- Michael Collins is a terrorist. Now, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, but reading the cavalcade of acts Collins committed in the name opf a free Ireland is really stark.
And moreover, it becomes distracting listening to the apologist tone of the author- who inexplicably mixes Collins harsh acts with cute stories about Collins. It becomes a "house of mirrors" where Coogan mix and matches the awful with the human, thus giving us a very mixed picture. At one point, Coogan's nostalgia for Collins becomes so warped that I wondered if Coogan really thought that by telling nice stories about Collins, that somehow made his bloodletting more excusable.
However, overall, the book does bridge the gap decently- Collins was a bad guy but was in a very good cause (or so one could argue). It tells a good story in a compelling manner. .
And moreover, it becomes distracting listening to the apologist tone of the author- who inexplicably mixes Collins harsh acts with cute stories about Collins. It becomes a "house of mirrors" where Coogan mix and matches the awful with the human, thus giving us a very mixed picture. At one point, Coogan's nostalgia for Collins becomes so warped that I wondered if Coogan really thought that by telling nice stories about Collins, that somehow made his bloodletting more excusable.
However, overall, the book does bridge the gap decently- Collins was a bad guy but was in a very good cause (or so one could argue). It tells a good story in a compelling manner. .
February 1, 2016
This was a very thorough examination of Collins' 32 years of fighting for Irish freedom. The author doesn't necessarily shy away from his favorable bias toward Collins, but it doesn't overwhelm the story being told. My own bias is away from books this dense, as the names and facts eventually turn into a jumble by the time I'm halfway through.
Definitely recommended for those interested in Collins or the history of Irish independence.
Definitely recommended for those interested in Collins or the history of Irish independence.
December 12, 2017
Michael Collins, pulled off a feat unparalleled in the history of his countrymen. In the past, the British crown could count on the luck of the Irish to ensure the destruction of any subversive elements who attempted to break the grip of London on the Emerald isle. That, superior resources, superior talent and the Irish tendency to never look at the small details ensured that successive rebellions would blow up in their faces and Britain would go skipping to the bank.
When Collins came onto the scene, all this changed. Professional spies and soldiers would call him a gifted amateur, and Coogan milks the wonder of a man for who all intents and purposes is a mere accountant student with no military experience, making complete, and utter fools of the best Spies and soldiers in Europe and then killing a lot of them. This book is an unapologietic pro collins biography but accurately captures the reasons of his success, the keen eye for detail that averted the biggest mistake that allowed Britain to grind into dust, successive Fenian revolts in the past, an audacious ruthlessness balanced by a cool, professionalism and honor that today's terrorists don't bother with, and most importantly of all, that charisma which allowed him to develop a borderline fanatical loyalty among his friends, minions an assets, many who were willing to go the extra mile for "the big fella" who they saw as the one great hope for Ireland to be free.
Overall, a good, solid read.
When Collins came onto the scene, all this changed. Professional spies and soldiers would call him a gifted amateur, and Coogan milks the wonder of a man for who all intents and purposes is a mere accountant student with no military experience, making complete, and utter fools of the best Spies and soldiers in Europe and then killing a lot of them. This book is an unapologietic pro collins biography but accurately captures the reasons of his success, the keen eye for detail that averted the biggest mistake that allowed Britain to grind into dust, successive Fenian revolts in the past, an audacious ruthlessness balanced by a cool, professionalism and honor that today's terrorists don't bother with, and most importantly of all, that charisma which allowed him to develop a borderline fanatical loyalty among his friends, minions an assets, many who were willing to go the extra mile for "the big fella" who they saw as the one great hope for Ireland to be free.
Overall, a good, solid read.
May 29, 2008
MY FAVORITE IRISH HISTORY AUTHOR! Wonderful story of Michael Collins rise to power . . . incredible detail that other biographers cannot include!
July 10, 2015
Havta read Dev's version before I give a proper wording
December 6, 2012
Beautiful biography of an extraordinary man. Well written.
August 25, 2018
Extremely well detailed! A great biography of an interesting historical figure, this is a must read for anyone interested in the life of Michael Collins!
August 27, 2020
Full disclosure: this is coming from me, someone who was named after Michael Collins and who has loved him since I was 14 years old, so I'm going to be a bit biased towards any book that's got good Mick gossip in it. Having said that, this was a brilliant read even outside of that background. All I could really say by way of fault was that if you're a complete beginner you might struggle a little bit with some sections of chronology that jump back and forth a little bit, but it's not detrimental in my opinion and it would be easily cleared up with a quick review of the pages or when you came back to it with more knowledge.
Huge history books like this tend to always run the risk of being too heavy or dry in some places, but personally I had no issue with this one. Like all biographies of its type its as much a historical account of the time as the person, both aspects of which have been meticulously researched. Something I liked about this particular book was that it wasn't impersonal -- the author isn't constantly inserting himself or anything like that, but there are comments and anecdotes and addresses to the reader on occasion, which is something I actually like. (I know some people think this is unprofessional or whatever, but to them I say lighten up.) I'm also going to come out and say it: I appreciate the way that this book valued facts over attempts at coddling or remaining neutral in the face of things where neutrality would do history a disservice. I'll say no more, but those of you who know me and have been subjected to my opinions on a certain tall, bespectacled person will know exactly what I'm talking about here.
Something else I really loved about this book was that there was a depth of feeling to it that isn't often found in non-fiction, and I love all histories and biographies where it's abundantly clear that the author loves their subject. There's a lot of empathy and emotion in this book, and at times the writing can slide almost towards prose, but this is in no way a criticism. It makes the book very easy and engaging to read, and to be honest with you there are some subjects covered here that I think would be odd to see written about in a completely detached, academic way. Irish history is simply not a subject you can talk about without passion, and that's just how it is.
Finally, I loved how full of information this book was. I mean, every page is packed full of it, and there were things there that I hadn't come across even though I've been independently researching the subject since I was 14 years old. Discovering new information about Mick is something that never fails to send me bonkers, so I had a good time with this.
Huge history books like this tend to always run the risk of being too heavy or dry in some places, but personally I had no issue with this one. Like all biographies of its type its as much a historical account of the time as the person, both aspects of which have been meticulously researched. Something I liked about this particular book was that it wasn't impersonal -- the author isn't constantly inserting himself or anything like that, but there are comments and anecdotes and addresses to the reader on occasion, which is something I actually like. (I know some people think this is unprofessional or whatever, but to them I say lighten up.) I'm also going to come out and say it: I appreciate the way that this book valued facts over attempts at coddling or remaining neutral in the face of things where neutrality would do history a disservice. I'll say no more, but those of you who know me and have been subjected to my opinions on a certain tall, bespectacled person will know exactly what I'm talking about here.
Something else I really loved about this book was that there was a depth of feeling to it that isn't often found in non-fiction, and I love all histories and biographies where it's abundantly clear that the author loves their subject. There's a lot of empathy and emotion in this book, and at times the writing can slide almost towards prose, but this is in no way a criticism. It makes the book very easy and engaging to read, and to be honest with you there are some subjects covered here that I think would be odd to see written about in a completely detached, academic way. Irish history is simply not a subject you can talk about without passion, and that's just how it is.
Finally, I loved how full of information this book was. I mean, every page is packed full of it, and there were things there that I hadn't come across even though I've been independently researching the subject since I was 14 years old. Discovering new information about Mick is something that never fails to send me bonkers, so I had a good time with this.
May 10, 2025
"Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland" is exhaustively researched book about the man who is often described as being the founder of the Irish Republic that we know today. The father of author Tim Pat Coogan was actively involved in the Irish War of Independence. Possibly for this reason the work is filled with fascinating anecdotes. I particularly enjoyed one about an assassination that Coogan's father was ordered to conduct by Collins. It reads:
"Collins was said to be opposed to the shooting of women. According to my father, he and another volunteer were sent out by Collins to shoot two young women, who had been consorting with British soldiers and had apparently given away information. But my father decided that the girls 'were very young and very beautiful' and made his own and his companion's mind that they should not be shot. For once Collins does not appear to have been too concerned about the non-fulfillment of a 'job'." (pp. 172-173)
Because of his access to sources, Coogan is able to given fascinating accounts of many incidents. What I found particularly interesting is that Coogan presents evidence exonerating Eamon de Valera from involvement in the assassination of Michael Collins which took place on 22 August 22 1
"An integral part of 'the great Irish whodunit mystery' is that de Valera had a hand in Collins' death. This is true only in the sense that he was the principal architect of the overall civil war situation. My information is that he actively tried to prevent the ambush. It comes from Jimmy Flynn, the ADC (Adjutant de Camp) assigned to him in Cork. ..." (p. 407)
The problem with the book is that there are far too many anecdotes and few are as a juicy as the two that I have just alluded to. " Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland" is a very tough slog. The reader needs to be constantly consulting Wikipedia and other sites on the Internet to make sense of Coogan's narrative. Coogan's book is only for reader who has a great interest in the subject.
"Collins was said to be opposed to the shooting of women. According to my father, he and another volunteer were sent out by Collins to shoot two young women, who had been consorting with British soldiers and had apparently given away information. But my father decided that the girls 'were very young and very beautiful' and made his own and his companion's mind that they should not be shot. For once Collins does not appear to have been too concerned about the non-fulfillment of a 'job'." (pp. 172-173)
Because of his access to sources, Coogan is able to given fascinating accounts of many incidents. What I found particularly interesting is that Coogan presents evidence exonerating Eamon de Valera from involvement in the assassination of Michael Collins which took place on 22 August 22 1
"An integral part of 'the great Irish whodunit mystery' is that de Valera had a hand in Collins' death. This is true only in the sense that he was the principal architect of the overall civil war situation. My information is that he actively tried to prevent the ambush. It comes from Jimmy Flynn, the ADC (Adjutant de Camp) assigned to him in Cork. ..." (p. 407)
The problem with the book is that there are far too many anecdotes and few are as a juicy as the two that I have just alluded to. " Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland" is a very tough slog. The reader needs to be constantly consulting Wikipedia and other sites on the Internet to make sense of Coogan's narrative. Coogan's book is only for reader who has a great interest in the subject.
August 12, 2025
I'm tempted to go down to four stars because of the strangely rambling writing style that permeates the first few chapters...but once things get going, this becomes a monumental work. You'll have a hard time convincing me that someone else is going to come along soon and write a better, more epic biography. I'm sure the pro-De Valera faction might have something to say...but as I think he is a blight on Irish history, they know what they can do with themselves. Michael Collins is the father of free modern Ireland, and if you're not convince...you will be after finishing this work.
May 31, 2025
i don’t doubt that collins was a man trapped in an impossible situation. i hope to god a situation like that never finds me. however, the only thing i could think of while reading this is that scene in the wind that shakes the barley when damien and teddy are having their big confrontation after mass and damien (cillian at his finest) is like “you have wrapped yourself in the fucking union jack, the butcher’s apron!” and i’m like… if that isn’t the bottom line of this entire situation. like did the end justify the means? i would argue not, but the timing of collins’ assassination means we’ll never know.
March 30, 2024
Tim Pat Coogan gives us a tour de force on Michael Collins, the man who made Ireland, in this book which is both a biography of the “big fella” and a history of a critical point in Ireland. These events are still argued about today, and of course led to the great split in the Irish movement for independence that brought the Irish civil war, a tragedy for the entire country.
There can be no mistake about where Coogan stands on the events that led to the creation of the Irish Free State and the civil war. He is unabashedly on the Michael Collins side of that argument. If you have some sympathy for Eamon De Valera this might not be the book for you.
The book is thick with details, which some have said made it a difficult read, especially for those that might not be familiar with this era of Irish history. Tim Pat has a lot of ground to cover, as the biography of Collins is simply intertwined with Eamon De Valera and the Irish movement of independence. You cannot tell the story of Michael Collins without getting into the weeds of the movement for Irish independence. It was Collins whole life.
Michael Collins was a volunteer and survived the disaster of the Easter uprising of 1916. The military failure forever colored Collins views on how to militarily confront the superior British force stationed in Ireland. Static warfare would lead Collins to master the tactics of a guerrilla campaign against the British. As successful as his tactics were even this eventually brought Collins into conflict with Eamon De Valera.
Collins life and death were tied to Irish history, and to the other giant of the Irish independence movement, Eamon De Valera. The eventual split in the movement, and the basis of the Irish Civil War, in large part was attributable to the eventual break between Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera. This book, by necessity, delves into that break, how it happened, and who the author thinks bears ultimate responsibility for the costly divide.
After the debacle of 1916 Eamon De Valera assumed overall leadership of the Irish Republican movement, but Michael Collins was a driving force in the movement, acting as Director of Finance, Director of Intelligence, as well as many other roles in the self declared Republican government of Ireland. He was a member of the first Dail, and though he made some enemies within the movement his leadership was simply immense. When Eamon De Valera decided to travel to America to build political support as well as gather financial support Collins was left in charge. The Collins success in prosecuting the guerrilla campaign against the British included a high degree of brutality, including executions of key British personnel in Ireland by a squad of assassins put together by Collins. The “squad”, or the “12 Apostles” put together by Collins, inflicted heavy damage on the British police and military infrastructure in Ireland. Collins was able to identify and mark for execution many British assets through superior gathering of intelligence, including turning key workers for the British in Ireland into informants for him. He was responsible for floating the national loan that financed the war effort and the activities of entire “Irish government” that claimed legal authority over the entire country. It was the war efforts of Collins, without any doubt, that drove the British to sue for some sort of accommodation with the Irish. That process, supposedly led on the Irish side by De Valera, became the point of fracture between Collins and De Valera. That fracture would have horrible ramifications for the Irish movement, and would cost Collins his life.
What was the cause of the split? Before we get to that question let us look at how Coogan described the De Valera trip to the United States, where he became embroiled in a major political dispute with prominent Irish American supporters of Irish independence. The De Valera stubborn streak, or maybe straight out hubris, is described.
At an early stage in the De Valera tour one Irish-American leader, watching the tensions build up, commented that the best thing to do with De Valera was ‘turn everything over to him. He will make a failure of it , but a failure is better than a split. And a split is certain unless De Valera can have his way.’
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 190
When the British made peace overtures to the Irish several key questions faced the Irish. The Irish government embraced the declaration of a Republic by the Easter 1916 rebellion. The commitment to the establishment of an Irish Republic with authority over the entire island was a key tenet of Irish Republican political thought. It was a difficult, if not impossible political goal in light of British policy and politics. The status of Northern Ireland was a sensitive one for both sides. Like today the counties that made up Northern Ireland were a political football in British politics, with “unionist” sentiment a majority in what became Northern Ireland. That majority had close political ties to the Conservative Party in Great Britain and that made any deal on the North very difficult. The second key question for the Irish was whether something less than a Republic could meet their political goals. The British, at this juncture, were simply not going to take the great leap towards a Republic for Ireland that would force a disassociation from the Crown. With those challenges ahead both sides agreed to a truce in place in July of 1921 in the hope of reaching some sort of agreement.
The truce of 1921 had some major military ramifications. Collins had fought the British to a standstill using guerrilla tactics that were often quite harsh. His intelligence network, and his fighters, were operating under a certain cover. With the truce declared Collins worried about what might happen should the negotiations fail and hostilities re-commence.
“He commented, ‘once a truce is agreed, and we come out in the open, it is extermination for us if the truce should fail…We shall be like rabbits coming out from their holes.’”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 217
This Collins analysis would go a long way towards explaining his later actions.
De Valera agreed to travel to London for direct talk with British P.M. David Lloyd George on July 12, 1921. The Irish delegation did not include Collins, who was omitted from the team by De Valera over Collins protests. This decision by De Valera also would go a long way, in my view, to explain the later disaster.
In his meetings with Lloyd George De Valera remained difficult to pin down. In a report from Lloyd George to the British cabinet on his discussions with De Valera the P.M. said:
“After three {there were actually four in all} interviews with Mr. De Valera, aggregating several hours, I found it difficult to see exactly where the Irish leader stood…What he wanted was a Republic, but this the Prime Minister had said was impossible, being inconsistent with the Monarchy. Mr. De Valera however had not admitted this inconsistency…as the conversation progressed , it became increasingly clear that Ulster was the real difficulty.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 221
This articulation of the British position on a Republic in direct meetings with De Valera, was also critical in understanding the pivotal events that would soon come.
The conference did not end in agreement, but further discussions continued, with plans for a second British/Irish conference. In the run-up to the second conference De Valera and Lloyd George exchanged multiple letters. Within those exchanges the parameters of British flexibility became obvious for all to see, and likely lead De Valera to some fateful decisions. In outlining the Irish position in advance of the second round De Valera, in a note to Lloyd George, stated that
“our nation has formally declared its independence and recognizes itself as a sovereign State. It is only as the representatives of that State, and as its chosen guardians, that we have any authority or powers to act on behalf of our people.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 225
Lloyd George rejected this formulation clearly.
“From the very outset of our conversation I told you that we looked to Ireland to own allegiance to the Thrown, and to make her future as a member of the British Commonwealth. That was the basis of our proposals and we cannot alter it. The status which you now claim in advance for your delegates is, in effect, a repudiation of that basis.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 225
This was not the end of the correspondence between the two, and I will give additional text. But before I do we see the very clear position of the British on the concept of an Irish Republic. De Valera, seeing the British inflexibility on this issue, followed with a note offering to go to a conference with no pre-conditions. This effectively acknowledged that the British did not recognize the delegation as representatives of an Irish Republic. The Lloyd George response, and invitation said:
“His Majesty’s Government…cannot enter a conference upon the basis of this correspondence. Notwithstanding your personal assurance to the contrary, which they much appreciate, it might be argued in future that the acceptance of a conference on this basis had involved them in a recognition which no British Government can accord. On this point they must guard themselves against any doubt…The position taken up by His Majesty’s Government is fundamental to the existence of the British Empire and they cannot alter it. My colleagues and I remain, however, keenly anxious to make in co-operation with your delegates another determined effort to explore every possibility of settlement by personal discussion…We, therefore, send you herewith a fresh invitation to a conference in London on 11 October, where we can meet your delegates as spokesmen of the people you represent with a view to ascertaining how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire may best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 226
When the split came Collins would shred the De Valera argument that the only acceptable negotiated settlement would be British recognition of the Irish Republic by pointing to De Valera’s acceptance of the conference on the basis of this very correspondence. We get a bit ahead of the story, but Collins later said, after the split:
“The communication of September 29th from Lloyd George made it clear that they were going into a conference not on recognition of the Irish Republic… if we all stood on the recognition of the Irish Republic as a prelude to any conference we could very easily have said so, and there would have been no conference…it was the acceptance of the invitation that formed the compromise.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 226
Robert Barton, a member of the second Irish delegation who ended up opposing the Treaty and falling out with Collins, nonetheless agreed with this idea.
“In these preliminaries the English refused to recognize us as acting on behalf of the Irish Republic and the fact that we agreed negotiate at all on any other basis was possibly the primary cause of our downfall. Certainly it was the first milestone on the road to disaster.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 227
As mentioned I got a bit ahead of the story. With the conference set the Irish leadership had to determine who would go to London for this make or break negotiation. The first conference was led by De Valera, who left Collins at home. This time De Valera made the fateful decision to send Michael Collins to London while he stayed in Dublin. This disastrous decision has been analyzed repeatedly over the years. De Valera’s explanations for not leading the delegation were, in my view, nonsensical. As the so called “President of the Irish Republic” De Valera had an obligation to lead the delegation and do the negotiating. Coogan offers De Valera no relief here:
“Having left Collins at home while he teased out from Lloyd George what was on offer, he now, having found out, began to steer Collins towards the negotiating table in Downing Street.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 227
De Valera would later compound his errors in ways that ripped apart the Irish independence movement. But this cynical ploy started the Irish, as Barton points out, on the road to disaster. Knowing full well that any potential agreement would be something short of recognition of a Republic De Valera sent Collins, knowing that either failure or a compromise would be the result. He did not want to be associated with either. In response to the many objections to De Valera not going to London, including strenuous objection from Collins, De Valera said:
“He said that he himself would go if he were not the President, the ‘symbol of the Republic.’ The ‘symbol’ should be untouched…not compromised by any arrangements which it might be necessary for plenipotentiaries to make.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 229
Coogan mentions “Machiavellian” in describing the thought process of De Valera. I agree.
A tragic set of misunderstandings, mixed in with some bad faith, combined to create some major issues that would come back to haunt the Irish. The delegation was sent as
plenipotentiaries, with the Irish Dail empowering them as such. Coogan mentions De Valera’s attempt to apply handcuffs, but does not make clear that their power was subject to the limits desired by De Valera. (Send back a draft treaty to Dublin and await a reply before signing) Arthur Griffith, whose contributions to the Irish independence movement were enormous, was the nominal Chair of the Irish delegation. As expected the British were only willing to go so far, and any idea of a negotiated solution that placed Ireland outside of the British Commonwealth was a non-starter. The British delegation included Lloyd George, Churchill, and Birkenhead, an A list of talent. The Irish delegation was assigned by De Valera to be “balanced” but had some less than stellar personalities. The Irish submitted a De Valera driven idea of “External Association” that was soundly rejected by the British, who offered Dominion status. The Irish delegates were in fact back and forth to Ireland to report, but the Irish Cabinet was badly divided, and simply did not offer clear instruction. At the critical time, with negotiations coming close to an end, De Valera once again refused to join the delegation.
The sides narrowed the differences, and the Irish delegation signed the draft Treaty that included the oath to the British Crown and Dominion status, with the Ulster question deferred. Collins, in a statement to Birkenhead, said “I may have just signed my actual death warrant.”
After the signing the row began, with De Valera’s reaction one of outrage:
“They managed to get him a few minutes after he had read the Evening Mail. He was in a ‘towering rage.’ Duggan handed him the Treaty, and noticing that he was taking no interest in it, asked him to read it. “Why should I read it?’ was the reply. Taken aback, Duggan told him about the publication arrangement and pointed out that it was then nearly eight o’clock. ‘What,’ exclaimed De Valera, ‘to be published whether I have seen it or not-whether I approve or not?’”
De Valera, in a fit of pique over the plenipotentiaries having signed an agreement without his assent, after having refused to go to London himself, now moved to expel Collins, and two other delegation members, from the Cabinet. He did this before they had arrived back from London, and without offering them an opportunity to defend their actions. Machiavelli had made his move. De Valera had miscalculated, and this brazen move to eliminate Collins politically failed.
The De Valera argument, that the signing of the Treaty without a referral back to him or the Cabinet, was a violation of a pledge made by Arthur Griffith, in the light of history, may have some merit. But that merit gets washed away by the fact that the Treaty was subject to ratification by the Irish Dail. It was referred back, and could have been rejected by the elected representatives of the Irish people. The Dail debate was truly vicious, and both sides of the debate gave as good as they got. A piece of the debate by Collins is worth looking at. Speaking of the Treaty Collins said:
“In my opinion it gives us the freedom, not the ultimate freedom that all nations desire and develop to, but the freedom to achieve it…we have stated we would not coerce the North-East. We have stated it officially. I stated it publicly in Armagh and nobody has found fault with me. What was the use of talking big phrases about not agreeing to the partition of our country. Surely we recognize that the North East corner does exist, and surely our intention was that we should take such steps would lead to mutual understanding. The Treaty has made an effort…to deal with it on lines that will lead very rapidly to goodwill and the entry of the North East under the Irish Parliament.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 301
De Valera’s hypocrisy was shown years after Collins death by his willingness to enter the Free State Government with the oath of allegiance to the Crown still a part of the entry requirement. He took over the Free State government after abstaining from participating, and at some point years later cracked down on his ostensible allies in the IRA. Collins vision, that the formation of the Free State was a steppingstone to further progress, had been borne out. Coogan ends the book with a quote from De Valera, who through his many years in power was small and petty over any attempts to honor the service of Michael Collins:
" It’s my considered opinion that in the fullness of time history will record the greatness of Collins and it will be recorded at my expense.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 432
Collins was indeed, in his short time here, a man of greatness. During this St. Patrick’s Day month we should remember the monumental achievements of the Big Fella, Michael Collins.
Edited for length.
There can be no mistake about where Coogan stands on the events that led to the creation of the Irish Free State and the civil war. He is unabashedly on the Michael Collins side of that argument. If you have some sympathy for Eamon De Valera this might not be the book for you.
The book is thick with details, which some have said made it a difficult read, especially for those that might not be familiar with this era of Irish history. Tim Pat has a lot of ground to cover, as the biography of Collins is simply intertwined with Eamon De Valera and the Irish movement of independence. You cannot tell the story of Michael Collins without getting into the weeds of the movement for Irish independence. It was Collins whole life.
Michael Collins was a volunteer and survived the disaster of the Easter uprising of 1916. The military failure forever colored Collins views on how to militarily confront the superior British force stationed in Ireland. Static warfare would lead Collins to master the tactics of a guerrilla campaign against the British. As successful as his tactics were even this eventually brought Collins into conflict with Eamon De Valera.
Collins life and death were tied to Irish history, and to the other giant of the Irish independence movement, Eamon De Valera. The eventual split in the movement, and the basis of the Irish Civil War, in large part was attributable to the eventual break between Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera. This book, by necessity, delves into that break, how it happened, and who the author thinks bears ultimate responsibility for the costly divide.
After the debacle of 1916 Eamon De Valera assumed overall leadership of the Irish Republican movement, but Michael Collins was a driving force in the movement, acting as Director of Finance, Director of Intelligence, as well as many other roles in the self declared Republican government of Ireland. He was a member of the first Dail, and though he made some enemies within the movement his leadership was simply immense. When Eamon De Valera decided to travel to America to build political support as well as gather financial support Collins was left in charge. The Collins success in prosecuting the guerrilla campaign against the British included a high degree of brutality, including executions of key British personnel in Ireland by a squad of assassins put together by Collins. The “squad”, or the “12 Apostles” put together by Collins, inflicted heavy damage on the British police and military infrastructure in Ireland. Collins was able to identify and mark for execution many British assets through superior gathering of intelligence, including turning key workers for the British in Ireland into informants for him. He was responsible for floating the national loan that financed the war effort and the activities of entire “Irish government” that claimed legal authority over the entire country. It was the war efforts of Collins, without any doubt, that drove the British to sue for some sort of accommodation with the Irish. That process, supposedly led on the Irish side by De Valera, became the point of fracture between Collins and De Valera. That fracture would have horrible ramifications for the Irish movement, and would cost Collins his life.
What was the cause of the split? Before we get to that question let us look at how Coogan described the De Valera trip to the United States, where he became embroiled in a major political dispute with prominent Irish American supporters of Irish independence. The De Valera stubborn streak, or maybe straight out hubris, is described.
At an early stage in the De Valera tour one Irish-American leader, watching the tensions build up, commented that the best thing to do with De Valera was ‘turn everything over to him. He will make a failure of it , but a failure is better than a split. And a split is certain unless De Valera can have his way.’
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 190
When the British made peace overtures to the Irish several key questions faced the Irish. The Irish government embraced the declaration of a Republic by the Easter 1916 rebellion. The commitment to the establishment of an Irish Republic with authority over the entire island was a key tenet of Irish Republican political thought. It was a difficult, if not impossible political goal in light of British policy and politics. The status of Northern Ireland was a sensitive one for both sides. Like today the counties that made up Northern Ireland were a political football in British politics, with “unionist” sentiment a majority in what became Northern Ireland. That majority had close political ties to the Conservative Party in Great Britain and that made any deal on the North very difficult. The second key question for the Irish was whether something less than a Republic could meet their political goals. The British, at this juncture, were simply not going to take the great leap towards a Republic for Ireland that would force a disassociation from the Crown. With those challenges ahead both sides agreed to a truce in place in July of 1921 in the hope of reaching some sort of agreement.
The truce of 1921 had some major military ramifications. Collins had fought the British to a standstill using guerrilla tactics that were often quite harsh. His intelligence network, and his fighters, were operating under a certain cover. With the truce declared Collins worried about what might happen should the negotiations fail and hostilities re-commence.
“He commented, ‘once a truce is agreed, and we come out in the open, it is extermination for us if the truce should fail…We shall be like rabbits coming out from their holes.’”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 217
This Collins analysis would go a long way towards explaining his later actions.
De Valera agreed to travel to London for direct talk with British P.M. David Lloyd George on July 12, 1921. The Irish delegation did not include Collins, who was omitted from the team by De Valera over Collins protests. This decision by De Valera also would go a long way, in my view, to explain the later disaster.
In his meetings with Lloyd George De Valera remained difficult to pin down. In a report from Lloyd George to the British cabinet on his discussions with De Valera the P.M. said:
“After three {there were actually four in all} interviews with Mr. De Valera, aggregating several hours, I found it difficult to see exactly where the Irish leader stood…What he wanted was a Republic, but this the Prime Minister had said was impossible, being inconsistent with the Monarchy. Mr. De Valera however had not admitted this inconsistency…as the conversation progressed , it became increasingly clear that Ulster was the real difficulty.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 221
This articulation of the British position on a Republic in direct meetings with De Valera, was also critical in understanding the pivotal events that would soon come.
The conference did not end in agreement, but further discussions continued, with plans for a second British/Irish conference. In the run-up to the second conference De Valera and Lloyd George exchanged multiple letters. Within those exchanges the parameters of British flexibility became obvious for all to see, and likely lead De Valera to some fateful decisions. In outlining the Irish position in advance of the second round De Valera, in a note to Lloyd George, stated that
“our nation has formally declared its independence and recognizes itself as a sovereign State. It is only as the representatives of that State, and as its chosen guardians, that we have any authority or powers to act on behalf of our people.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 225
Lloyd George rejected this formulation clearly.
“From the very outset of our conversation I told you that we looked to Ireland to own allegiance to the Thrown, and to make her future as a member of the British Commonwealth. That was the basis of our proposals and we cannot alter it. The status which you now claim in advance for your delegates is, in effect, a repudiation of that basis.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 225
This was not the end of the correspondence between the two, and I will give additional text. But before I do we see the very clear position of the British on the concept of an Irish Republic. De Valera, seeing the British inflexibility on this issue, followed with a note offering to go to a conference with no pre-conditions. This effectively acknowledged that the British did not recognize the delegation as representatives of an Irish Republic. The Lloyd George response, and invitation said:
“His Majesty’s Government…cannot enter a conference upon the basis of this correspondence. Notwithstanding your personal assurance to the contrary, which they much appreciate, it might be argued in future that the acceptance of a conference on this basis had involved them in a recognition which no British Government can accord. On this point they must guard themselves against any doubt…The position taken up by His Majesty’s Government is fundamental to the existence of the British Empire and they cannot alter it. My colleagues and I remain, however, keenly anxious to make in co-operation with your delegates another determined effort to explore every possibility of settlement by personal discussion…We, therefore, send you herewith a fresh invitation to a conference in London on 11 October, where we can meet your delegates as spokesmen of the people you represent with a view to ascertaining how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire may best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 226
When the split came Collins would shred the De Valera argument that the only acceptable negotiated settlement would be British recognition of the Irish Republic by pointing to De Valera’s acceptance of the conference on the basis of this very correspondence. We get a bit ahead of the story, but Collins later said, after the split:
“The communication of September 29th from Lloyd George made it clear that they were going into a conference not on recognition of the Irish Republic… if we all stood on the recognition of the Irish Republic as a prelude to any conference we could very easily have said so, and there would have been no conference…it was the acceptance of the invitation that formed the compromise.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 226
Robert Barton, a member of the second Irish delegation who ended up opposing the Treaty and falling out with Collins, nonetheless agreed with this idea.
“In these preliminaries the English refused to recognize us as acting on behalf of the Irish Republic and the fact that we agreed negotiate at all on any other basis was possibly the primary cause of our downfall. Certainly it was the first milestone on the road to disaster.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 227
As mentioned I got a bit ahead of the story. With the conference set the Irish leadership had to determine who would go to London for this make or break negotiation. The first conference was led by De Valera, who left Collins at home. This time De Valera made the fateful decision to send Michael Collins to London while he stayed in Dublin. This disastrous decision has been analyzed repeatedly over the years. De Valera’s explanations for not leading the delegation were, in my view, nonsensical. As the so called “President of the Irish Republic” De Valera had an obligation to lead the delegation and do the negotiating. Coogan offers De Valera no relief here:
“Having left Collins at home while he teased out from Lloyd George what was on offer, he now, having found out, began to steer Collins towards the negotiating table in Downing Street.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 227
De Valera would later compound his errors in ways that ripped apart the Irish independence movement. But this cynical ploy started the Irish, as Barton points out, on the road to disaster. Knowing full well that any potential agreement would be something short of recognition of a Republic De Valera sent Collins, knowing that either failure or a compromise would be the result. He did not want to be associated with either. In response to the many objections to De Valera not going to London, including strenuous objection from Collins, De Valera said:
“He said that he himself would go if he were not the President, the ‘symbol of the Republic.’ The ‘symbol’ should be untouched…not compromised by any arrangements which it might be necessary for plenipotentiaries to make.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 229
Coogan mentions “Machiavellian” in describing the thought process of De Valera. I agree.
A tragic set of misunderstandings, mixed in with some bad faith, combined to create some major issues that would come back to haunt the Irish. The delegation was sent as
plenipotentiaries, with the Irish Dail empowering them as such. Coogan mentions De Valera’s attempt to apply handcuffs, but does not make clear that their power was subject to the limits desired by De Valera. (Send back a draft treaty to Dublin and await a reply before signing) Arthur Griffith, whose contributions to the Irish independence movement were enormous, was the nominal Chair of the Irish delegation. As expected the British were only willing to go so far, and any idea of a negotiated solution that placed Ireland outside of the British Commonwealth was a non-starter. The British delegation included Lloyd George, Churchill, and Birkenhead, an A list of talent. The Irish delegation was assigned by De Valera to be “balanced” but had some less than stellar personalities. The Irish submitted a De Valera driven idea of “External Association” that was soundly rejected by the British, who offered Dominion status. The Irish delegates were in fact back and forth to Ireland to report, but the Irish Cabinet was badly divided, and simply did not offer clear instruction. At the critical time, with negotiations coming close to an end, De Valera once again refused to join the delegation.
The sides narrowed the differences, and the Irish delegation signed the draft Treaty that included the oath to the British Crown and Dominion status, with the Ulster question deferred. Collins, in a statement to Birkenhead, said “I may have just signed my actual death warrant.”
After the signing the row began, with De Valera’s reaction one of outrage:
“They managed to get him a few minutes after he had read the Evening Mail. He was in a ‘towering rage.’ Duggan handed him the Treaty, and noticing that he was taking no interest in it, asked him to read it. “Why should I read it?’ was the reply. Taken aback, Duggan told him about the publication arrangement and pointed out that it was then nearly eight o’clock. ‘What,’ exclaimed De Valera, ‘to be published whether I have seen it or not-whether I approve or not?’”
De Valera, in a fit of pique over the plenipotentiaries having signed an agreement without his assent, after having refused to go to London himself, now moved to expel Collins, and two other delegation members, from the Cabinet. He did this before they had arrived back from London, and without offering them an opportunity to defend their actions. Machiavelli had made his move. De Valera had miscalculated, and this brazen move to eliminate Collins politically failed.
The De Valera argument, that the signing of the Treaty without a referral back to him or the Cabinet, was a violation of a pledge made by Arthur Griffith, in the light of history, may have some merit. But that merit gets washed away by the fact that the Treaty was subject to ratification by the Irish Dail. It was referred back, and could have been rejected by the elected representatives of the Irish people. The Dail debate was truly vicious, and both sides of the debate gave as good as they got. A piece of the debate by Collins is worth looking at. Speaking of the Treaty Collins said:
“In my opinion it gives us the freedom, not the ultimate freedom that all nations desire and develop to, but the freedom to achieve it…we have stated we would not coerce the North-East. We have stated it officially. I stated it publicly in Armagh and nobody has found fault with me. What was the use of talking big phrases about not agreeing to the partition of our country. Surely we recognize that the North East corner does exist, and surely our intention was that we should take such steps would lead to mutual understanding. The Treaty has made an effort…to deal with it on lines that will lead very rapidly to goodwill and the entry of the North East under the Irish Parliament.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 301
De Valera’s hypocrisy was shown years after Collins death by his willingness to enter the Free State Government with the oath of allegiance to the Crown still a part of the entry requirement. He took over the Free State government after abstaining from participating, and at some point years later cracked down on his ostensible allies in the IRA. Collins vision, that the formation of the Free State was a steppingstone to further progress, had been borne out. Coogan ends the book with a quote from De Valera, who through his many years in power was small and petty over any attempts to honor the service of Michael Collins:
" It’s my considered opinion that in the fullness of time history will record the greatness of Collins and it will be recorded at my expense.”
The Man Who Made Ireland: The Life and Death of Michael Collins Tim Pat Coogan pg. 432
Collins was indeed, in his short time here, a man of greatness. During this St. Patrick’s Day month we should remember the monumental achievements of the Big Fella, Michael Collins.
Edited for length.
February 20, 2018
The Man Who Saved Ireland
By Bob Gelms
One of Ireland’s finest journalists and a preeminent Irish historian, Tim Pat Coogan, has written a superlative biography of Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary and the central figure in the War of Irish Independence.
Michael Collins’ importance in this effort cannot be overstated. In the spirit of complete disclosure, I probably should say that I consider Michael Collins an Irish hero of unparalleled stature. He is a personal hero of mine and I have been very privileged to have known men who fought with him in Ireland's successful attempt to gain independence from Great Briton. I’m trying hard to be as non-biased as I can but, if it seems that I am then I apologize in advance.
The book is skillfully written with a massive amount of detail told in the style of a story. It reads a little like an espionage thriller of the first rank. It is startling to think that it is all true. Michael Collins accomplished some astounding things in his life which he seems to have given over to the cause of driving the British out of Ireland, where they had been for over 700 years.
I don’t want to recount his life or even all t he high points here but I would like to give you just a taste of the man and times in which he lived.
One of his more famous exploits was an undercover intelligence operation in Dublin on November 21, 1920 . He devised a complicated operation involving a number of military targets that morning. Through his widespread organization, he was able to acquire the names and addresses of eight undercover operatives for the British Government. Members of a special unit that Collins tapped for difficult jobs went to the eight houses and, at a prearranged time, forced their way in and killed the British spies. Collins and his men thereby dismantled almost the whole undercover operation the British Government was trying to set up in Ireland. It was a major triumph against a military target.
Later that day, there was to be a major Gaelic football game between Dublin and Tipperary in a large sports stadium in Dublin called Croke Park. Collins tried to get the game postponed because he was afraid of reprisals. That afternoon the Auxiliary Division of the British Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary surrounded the park and opened fire on the crowd. They killed 14 men, women, and children and wounded 60.
It came to be known as Bloody Sunday.
Collins had a large bounty on his head. The Brits knew he was involved with IRA operations. They had no idea how involved he was. It was a closely guarded secret that in addition to being associated with the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Sinn Fein, he was Director of Organization and Adjutant General for the Irish Volunteers and Director of Intelligence for the Irish Republican Army. Collins gained fame as a guerrilla warfare strategist, and was the Commander-In-Chief and General of the Irish Army during the War for Independence.
Eventually, Great Britain called a truce. Tim Pat Coogan’s book goes on to explain that Michael Collins had, by then, become President of the Irish Republic and he, along with small group of negotiators, went to London to hammer out a treaty. There, he found himself in the company of Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Michael Collins was just 31 years old.
They finished negotiating the treaty and signed it. It was very controversial back in Ireland. It called for six of the ten counties in the ancient province of Ulster to remain in Great Britain. The country would be partitioned.
Collins had done the impossible; he removed British presence from 26 of the 32 counties in Ireland. The Irish had been trying to do this for 700 years and Collins DID. He said the time would come for those remaining six counties it just wasn’t now. The treaty also contained some other objectionable things which were mostly ignored.
There was something ominous in the air. When Collins signed the treaty, he said that he might have signed his own death warrant. The vast majority of the Irish people considered him a hero. Mr. Coogan’s book is a tour-de-force. Everyone should get it and read it.
A good case can be made that during the Middle Ages, Irish monks rescued tens of thousands of books and effectively saved western civilization. There isn’t a scintilla of doubt in my mind that Michael Collins saved Ireland. After reading Tim Pat Coogan’s biography, Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland, you might come to the same conclusion.
By Bob Gelms
One of Ireland’s finest journalists and a preeminent Irish historian, Tim Pat Coogan, has written a superlative biography of Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary and the central figure in the War of Irish Independence.
Michael Collins’ importance in this effort cannot be overstated. In the spirit of complete disclosure, I probably should say that I consider Michael Collins an Irish hero of unparalleled stature. He is a personal hero of mine and I have been very privileged to have known men who fought with him in Ireland's successful attempt to gain independence from Great Briton. I’m trying hard to be as non-biased as I can but, if it seems that I am then I apologize in advance.
The book is skillfully written with a massive amount of detail told in the style of a story. It reads a little like an espionage thriller of the first rank. It is startling to think that it is all true. Michael Collins accomplished some astounding things in his life which he seems to have given over to the cause of driving the British out of Ireland, where they had been for over 700 years.
I don’t want to recount his life or even all t he high points here but I would like to give you just a taste of the man and times in which he lived.
One of his more famous exploits was an undercover intelligence operation in Dublin on November 21, 1920 . He devised a complicated operation involving a number of military targets that morning. Through his widespread organization, he was able to acquire the names and addresses of eight undercover operatives for the British Government. Members of a special unit that Collins tapped for difficult jobs went to the eight houses and, at a prearranged time, forced their way in and killed the British spies. Collins and his men thereby dismantled almost the whole undercover operation the British Government was trying to set up in Ireland. It was a major triumph against a military target.
Later that day, there was to be a major Gaelic football game between Dublin and Tipperary in a large sports stadium in Dublin called Croke Park. Collins tried to get the game postponed because he was afraid of reprisals. That afternoon the Auxiliary Division of the British Army and the Royal Irish Constabulary surrounded the park and opened fire on the crowd. They killed 14 men, women, and children and wounded 60.
It came to be known as Bloody Sunday.
Collins had a large bounty on his head. The Brits knew he was involved with IRA operations. They had no idea how involved he was. It was a closely guarded secret that in addition to being associated with the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Sinn Fein, he was Director of Organization and Adjutant General for the Irish Volunteers and Director of Intelligence for the Irish Republican Army. Collins gained fame as a guerrilla warfare strategist, and was the Commander-In-Chief and General of the Irish Army during the War for Independence.
Eventually, Great Britain called a truce. Tim Pat Coogan’s book goes on to explain that Michael Collins had, by then, become President of the Irish Republic and he, along with small group of negotiators, went to London to hammer out a treaty. There, he found himself in the company of Lloyd George and Winston Churchill. Michael Collins was just 31 years old.
They finished negotiating the treaty and signed it. It was very controversial back in Ireland. It called for six of the ten counties in the ancient province of Ulster to remain in Great Britain. The country would be partitioned.
Collins had done the impossible; he removed British presence from 26 of the 32 counties in Ireland. The Irish had been trying to do this for 700 years and Collins DID. He said the time would come for those remaining six counties it just wasn’t now. The treaty also contained some other objectionable things which were mostly ignored.
There was something ominous in the air. When Collins signed the treaty, he said that he might have signed his own death warrant. The vast majority of the Irish people considered him a hero. Mr. Coogan’s book is a tour-de-force. Everyone should get it and read it.
A good case can be made that during the Middle Ages, Irish monks rescued tens of thousands of books and effectively saved western civilization. There isn’t a scintilla of doubt in my mind that Michael Collins saved Ireland. After reading Tim Pat Coogan’s biography, Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland, you might come to the same conclusion.
April 22, 2020
Michael Collins is a collosal figure in modern Irish history. Rebel, Killer, Hero , Traitor. A man whose image has been blurred through over glorification, over demonisation, over mytholigisation and Liam Neeson.
Tim Pat Coogan succeeds at painting an overall portrait of this iconic, devisive and elusive Irish figure.
Coogans research is deep and he works to brush away the dust to try as best he can to show the image he thinks best represents the real Collins. His level of detail and first hand information of the 1919-1921 conflict is brilliant. He portrays Collins' work at organising a secret movement striking at the heart of British rule Ireland whilst evading capture with meticulous care.
My biggest fault with the book was the writing. Sentences became confusing. Unclear. Messy. I always felt that Coogan wanted to show his research and that all his claims can be backed up but sometimes his actual point became blurred.
If you want a good starting point from which to explore Collins this is the book
Tim Pat Coogan succeeds at painting an overall portrait of this iconic, devisive and elusive Irish figure.
Coogans research is deep and he works to brush away the dust to try as best he can to show the image he thinks best represents the real Collins. His level of detail and first hand information of the 1919-1921 conflict is brilliant. He portrays Collins' work at organising a secret movement striking at the heart of British rule Ireland whilst evading capture with meticulous care.
My biggest fault with the book was the writing. Sentences became confusing. Unclear. Messy. I always felt that Coogan wanted to show his research and that all his claims can be backed up but sometimes his actual point became blurred.
If you want a good starting point from which to explore Collins this is the book
November 6, 2019
An extremely detailed account of the life of this important figure and his role in the development of Ireland. The author has researched Michael Collins and the events surrounding his life very thoroughly indeed, and has produced a forensic description with reference to numerous sources, including first-hand interviews with surviving figures from the period. Sometimes however, the detail is almost overwhelming, with the references to a multitude of players' names and their part in the events of this crucial period. I would like to have seen a slightly more detached overview of events (for each chapter, for example), plus an evaluation of Collins' role and impact on the cause of Irish independence. At times it felt like one was wading through so much detail that the course of history and the context for Collins' life was lost. However, having said that, one has to applaud the work that must have gone into producing this contribution to the troubled development of Ireland.
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June 3, 2015Yes, it took me forever to finish this book. But now it is done. In my defense, the book is rather dense and the author writes with the expectation that the reader has a more intimate understanding of Irish history than I possess. The book has TONS of information about Collins. I would suggest you read a basic book on the history of the 1916 Rising and the Civil War and then move to this more detailed account of Collins' life.
I also suspect the author is white washing a few elements of Collins' character. He hints at Collins drinking and his potential affairs with women. But, Coogan dismissed many of the stories.
All and all I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.
I also suspect the author is white washing a few elements of Collins' character. He hints at Collins drinking and his potential affairs with women. But, Coogan dismissed many of the stories.
All and all I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to others.
January 9, 2018
What a slog! Densely packed information and details make it a great reference and highly informative, but tough read. There are also many people and events raised as ancillary information that the author must assume the reader knows about.
October 2, 2009
I am feeling revolutionary these days :)
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May 16, 2011Certainly the best book on Collins to date.
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October 13, 2014not a typical biography that starts in his childhood and goes up to adulthood. Rather about the series of events that led up to the signing of the Anglo- Irish treaty of 1921.
August 9, 2019
4.5. Excellent, at times tedious, biography of a very complicated Irishman
October 13, 2019
Michael Collins has always fascinated me. Coogan's book is a worthy part of the literature about this Irish patriot.
November 20, 2021
Heartbroken. Michael Collins is easily my most admired hero in history. I love his story and I was thrilled to learn more. However, what should have been a passion project taking me a single sitting has turned into a painful slog, drawn out over nearly a year.
Tim Pat Coogan has undoubtedly done his research. The book is incredibly detailed and the number of sources and pieces of evidence are astounding. There are also a myriad of wonderful quotes and phrases, but most of these are from the men and women being directly quoted. However, the book itself is painfully dull. It is outright boring to read and is lost between trying to be a narrative driven tale of one of the greatest men all all time, and trying to be a Ph.D. thesis in Irish History. If eithter one of these styles was adopted whole-heartedly the experience would have been much more enjoyable, alas, it was horrible.
As mentioned the book is very detailed. So much so that often the main narrative is completely obscured through unimportant filler. This is a story about Michael Collins, why am I reading three pages about an interview the author had with a woman who was three when she once saw Collins talking to her dad's neighbor, whilst looking miserable (after having killed someone). Often these sources aim to emphaisze things which are already well established, and in doing so, do nothing more that pad the run time. It adds nothing.
The author also spends a lot of time on questionable subject matter. The time spent on the actual assasination of Michael Collins (a pretty big deal) is the same as the time spent talking about the buerocratic process associated with his gravestone. The amount of random characters brought into this book, often for only two or three sentences, is absurd. There must be hundreds of names of people which are impossible to remember. The name of the MilkMan in detail, the Post office clerk, the Bar Man who onced waved and Michael Collins. I don't care about these people, at all.
I very nearly DNF'd this book several times and ultimately didn't because I'm already such a huge fan of Michael Collins and I couldn't find an option on good reads to mark it as DNF. The book feels like someone did a huge amount of hyper specific research and stapled it all together. Truly heartbreaking and I don't think I'll be reading anything more from Tim Pat Coogan which is a true shame considering the volume of his work, but I simply cannot put myself through the pain again.
Tim Pat Coogan has undoubtedly done his research. The book is incredibly detailed and the number of sources and pieces of evidence are astounding. There are also a myriad of wonderful quotes and phrases, but most of these are from the men and women being directly quoted. However, the book itself is painfully dull. It is outright boring to read and is lost between trying to be a narrative driven tale of one of the greatest men all all time, and trying to be a Ph.D. thesis in Irish History. If eithter one of these styles was adopted whole-heartedly the experience would have been much more enjoyable, alas, it was horrible.
As mentioned the book is very detailed. So much so that often the main narrative is completely obscured through unimportant filler. This is a story about Michael Collins, why am I reading three pages about an interview the author had with a woman who was three when she once saw Collins talking to her dad's neighbor, whilst looking miserable (after having killed someone). Often these sources aim to emphaisze things which are already well established, and in doing so, do nothing more that pad the run time. It adds nothing.
The author also spends a lot of time on questionable subject matter. The time spent on the actual assasination of Michael Collins (a pretty big deal) is the same as the time spent talking about the buerocratic process associated with his gravestone. The amount of random characters brought into this book, often for only two or three sentences, is absurd. There must be hundreds of names of people which are impossible to remember. The name of the MilkMan in detail, the Post office clerk, the Bar Man who onced waved and Michael Collins. I don't care about these people, at all.
I very nearly DNF'd this book several times and ultimately didn't because I'm already such a huge fan of Michael Collins and I couldn't find an option on good reads to mark it as DNF. The book feels like someone did a huge amount of hyper specific research and stapled it all together. Truly heartbreaking and I don't think I'll be reading anything more from Tim Pat Coogan which is a true shame considering the volume of his work, but I simply cannot put myself through the pain again.
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