Collins named as Britain’s second greatest foe
Collins was one of five historical figures vying for the coveted title of Britain’s Greatest Foe at an all-day event at the museum.
Experts representing each of the five spoke in front of an audience, who then cast the deciding vote by secret ballot.
Collins, who had led a preliminary online poll, had to settle for second spot, losing out to runaway winner Washington, who bagged an impressive 30 votes.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who had been tipped to win prior to the start of February’s online poll, had to settle for third place with 12 votes, while Erwin Rommel, with seven votes, and surprise entry Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, with just four votes, brought up the rear.
The final vote concluded a hard-fought contest which started with an online poll of 20 top commanders, which were then whittled down to the top five.
Collins also came second in that poll, bagging 2,787 votes, but again losing out, on this occasion to Ataturk, a surprise winner who pulled in 3,090 votes.
After Saturday’s event, museum chiefs paid tribute to UCC’s modern history lecturer Gabriel Doherty, who they said delivered a convincing 40-minute argument for Collins.
Mr Doherty, whose area of expertise is the Irish revolutionary period from 1912-23, argued that Collins was much more than just a skilled commander.
“Collins had many different hats and his political and administrative skills tend to be a lot more overlooked and less appreciated,” said Mr Doherty.
“The speech he gave in the Dáil following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty was superb and better than de Valera’s. The political side of Collins was underrated.”
Museum spokesperson Katy McMullen admitted she did not expect Collins to poll as well before the start of February online poll.
But she said the huge backing Collins received was well deserved, adding that he might feature more in the museum’s exhibits.
The poll was created to highlight the achievements of Britain’s most celebrated enemies and to draw attention to some lesser-known adversaries.
To qualify, each commander had to have led an army against British forces in the field of battle — a pre-requisite which excluded hated political foes such as Adolf Hitler — and had to have lived from the 17th century onwards.
