 Michael was born in Sams Cross,near Clonakilty, County Cork.  His date of birth is unsure because most people believed it was the 16 th of October 1890 but on his tombstone it is said to say the 12 th of October  He was born into a family of eight children of which he was the youngest son out of three.  When he grew up a bit he turned into a fiery young man. He was also a very bright boy and had very passionate feelings for nationalism.

 His father, Michael John ( ) was a farmer to profession, his mother was Mary Anne O’Brien. When the couple married, she was twenty-three years old and he was sixty. When his father was on his deathbed in 1896 he predicted that Michael was going to be a great man and some day do great work for Ireland. His family nicknamed him “ the big fellow” because he was always so keen to take on tasks before his years.

 Collins was inspired by his primary school teacher, Denis Lyons, a member of a secret organization, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), whose aim was to gain Ireland's independence from Great Britain.  In 1906 Collins went to London, England, to enter the civil service as a postal clerk. For ten years Collins lived in London, where he became active in various Irish organizations, including the Gaelic League, a society that promoted the use of the Irish language.  In 1909 Collins himself became a member of the IRB.

 Collins returned to Ireland in 1916 to take part in the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule.  After the rebellion was crushed, Collins was interned (held captive) in North Wales along with most of the other rebels from the IRB.  When the internees were released in December 1916, he went to Dublin, where he secured a leadership position in the reviving revolutionary movement.  After their victory in the general election of December 1918, the revolutionaries established an Irish Parliament (body of government), Dail Eireann, in January The Dail officially announced an Irish Republic -government elected and run by the people of Ireland

 July 1921, Collins reluctantly agreed to Irish president Eamon de Valera's request to serve on the peace-making talks.  During these negotiation (talks) in London, the British government firmly rejected any settlement that involved recognising Ireland as a republic.  Instead, they offered:  that we could govern the south of Ireland  it would still be part of the British Commonwealth  with a condition that Northern Ireland would be left out of this offer.

 Collins decided to accept these terms. He felt rejection may lead to war.  He also felt that the proposed treaty would soon lead to unity and complete freedom for his country (Unity of North and South)  This never happened.

 On August 22 ND 1922 Michael Collins was Assassinated in an ambush by anti-treaty IRA forces while travelling in his native Cork.  He had been warned by his colleagues that it may not be safe but he said “ Sure I’d never be killed by my own native people of Cork”.

 Up to recently no statue of Michael Collins existed anywhere in the world, so a small group got together in Clonakilty in 2001 to rectify that situation.  On August 22 nd 2002 the 80 th anniversary of the Big Fella’s death was picked as the date for the unveiling and film actor Liam Neeson (who played collins in the movie about his life) agreed to travel from the United States to unveil the statue.

 Seven and a half thousand people attended the event, on a beautiful August evening and today a statue showing Michael Collins making a speech stands proud in his hometown of Clonakilty.

Rebecca Keane Nov’14