Cork County Council is being urged to buy a rare artifact which once belonged to General Michael Collins and add it to a collection dedicated to his life which is housed in a museum the council runs.

A €1.3m museum, dedicated to Michael Collins and two other West Cork patriots, is to open in Clonakilty at the end of June.

The council is painstakingly restoring the house in Emmet Square, Clonakilty, where Collins once worked.