Murder and kidnap all part of Collins’s legacy

In the first of a two-part series based on his forthcoming book, ‘Michael Collins and the Civil War’, Ryle Dwyer gives a deep insight into why the Big Fellow is often depicted as an architect of modern urban terrorism and how his attempt to secure southern unity spiralled into an orgy of murder and mayhem.

AFTER the Anglo-Irish Treaty was accepted by Dáil Éireann, Michael Collins and his team of ministers for the new provisional government went to Dublin Castle on Jan 16, 1922. Officially, they were there to receive their commissions from the lord lieutenant.

Inside the castle the heads of the various departments met their new political bosses in the under-secretary’s room. Collins formally handed the resolution approving the treaty to the lord lieutenant, who delivered a short address. Collins did not deliver a formal reply. Instead, he bounded from the castle into his taxi and returned to the Mansion House, where heissued a statement.