EVER since Roger Casement was hanged in 1916, controversy had surrounded his diaries, but there was no controversy about a diary that he began while in Germany during the early months of World War I.

The price of betrayal for one of Michael Collins’s opponents was his life but the cost of owning an insight into this fascinating piece of history came at a more modest €3,800.

With the upcoming sale of the letter from Harry Quinlisk to the authorities in Dublin Castle, about informing on Michael Collins — and the excellent article by historian Ryle Dwyer about this episode in the Irish Examiner last week — when there was a bounty of £10,000 on Michael’s head, I have a contribution.

A former soldier played a dangerous game by turning on Michael Collins during the War of Independence, writes Ryle Dwyer