• Home|
• 1859-1900|
• 1901-1930|
• 1931-1960|
• 1961-1990|
• 1991-2007|
• Using the archive

GENERAL COLLINS DEAD

Killed in ambush

Chief of Staff's message to Army

Calm discipline and no reprisal

The shooting of Michael Collins was the single most dramatic event of the Civil War. This is how The Irish Times reported the news.

A message reached Dublin this morning to the effect that General Michael Collins was killed yesterday in an ambush near Bandon, Co Cork. On inquiry at Army Headquarters this sad intelligence was confirmed:.

The following message from the Chief of Staff [ Richard Mulcahy] to the men of the Army was issued this morning.

TO THE MEN OF THE ARMY
"Stand calmly by your posts. Bend bravely and undaunted to your task. Let no cruel act of reprisal blemish your bright honour.

"Every dark hour that Michael Collins met since 1916 seemed but to steel that bright strength of his and temper his brave gaiety. You are left as inheritors of that strength and bravery.

"To each of you falls his unfinished work. No darkness in the hour: loss of comrades will daunt you in it.

"Ireland! The Army serves - strengthened by its sorrow.

(signed)

R Ua Maolcatha, Chief of General Staff."

In reporting Collins' death, The Irish Times reprinted an earlier profile of Collins by "Nichevo", the pen-name of Bertie Smyllie, who later became editor of the paper. The piece describes a meeting of Dáil Eireann in the Mansion House to discuss Lloyd George's invitation to a peace conference. Smyllie was looking out for Collins but could not see him . . .

I was beginning to be afraid the mysterious Michael Collins was a myth after all when I heard the Clerk of the Dáil call his name [ in Irish] . . . Here was no jockey man, no emaciated figure . . . a big burly broad-shouldered man with a shock of pitch black hair and a broad smile strode across the chamber and signed the register. At first sight he is decidedly disappointing. He does not look a bit like a mystery man. The stories we used to hear about him . . . one I remember that he had slipped up a chimney to escape arrest. I would like to see that chimney, for Mr Collins does not weigh an ounce under 14 stone. He is more than average height, althought you would not describe him as tall. His face is round and somewhat O'Connnellesque, with a sharpish nose and a largely mobile mouth. A phrenologist would give him good marks for his head, and he has a fine pair of eyes, which are well set off by arching brows. One misses that aggressive firmness that hits you when you look at Mr Arthur Griffith. Mr Collins can be firm enough but it is impulse rather than resolution that makes him dig his heels in . . . when Countess Markiewicz attacked him in the Dál . . . he is all fire and "temperament". He dashes into a room, dives into whatever matter may be before him, brooks no interference or interruption and before you know he is off again.

This trait has advantages . . . in the Dáil. But it has disadvantages, notably in the conduct of delicate negotiations. Mr Collins has too much energy. You can see him when someone else is speaking, straining like a hound on the leash. He passes his hand rapidly through his hair - a favourite gesture - shifts his position on his seat, affirms or dissents from a position with vehement nods, until he is finally on his feet to demolish his opponent with torrential eloquence. He shakes his great mane like an angry lion when he is vexed, thunders scorn on his enemies at all times, and exudes good nature when he is pleased . . . He does not laugh with his face alone. His whole frame trembles with merriment . . . Within half an hour I have watched him jest, threaten, cajole, defy, plead, roar, and burst into laughter, and after it all he has lit a cigarette and discussed the satire of You Never Can Tell . . .

Rumour gave him a reputation for something like witchcraft, and his exploits, real and imagined, rang throughout the world. Then the Truce was declared and the next thing we knew he was taking tea with the British Cabinet in Downing Street, and within a few months he was Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government - virtually the first Irish premier since Grattan.

From Wed, August 23rd, 1922.