Richard Hogan: Michael Collins and the legacy of a leader lost too young

My wife’s parents' house overlooks the back garden of Michael Collins' original homestead in Woodfield. I often think of him 

I think it is fair to say, there hasn’t been an Irish person that has left such an indelible mark on the course of Irish history as Michael Collins. Picture: Darragh Kane

There are few places on Earth like Sam’s Cross in Lisavaird, Clonakilty. The wild wind rides the wet landscape of yellow and green while cattle heave the clob of broken path. Time’s arrow moves differently there, far from the madding crowds and din of Dublin City, it slows to a stuttering pace. Drenched in the moisture in the air, it almost stops. People are different there, too. They have a genuine interest in who you are — more than a simple curiosity — they like to know where you came from and who your people were. The sense of a shared intergenerational history is part of the lexicon. Neighbours are an important part of your daily life. Ah, Ireland as it used to be. Connected and supportive of each other.

I love to sit out with my in-laws and just inhale the undulating surroundings. Peace, most certainly, “comes dropping slow”. I never sleep like I do when I’m down in Sam’s Cross, the air dense with history, the landscape alive with story.