West Cork museum to display letters that focus on Michael Collins's international connections
(Left to right) Jamie Murphy, General Manager of Michael Collins House Museum, Jessica Baldwin, Senior Conservator at the National Archives of Ireland, Eimear O’Neill, Municipal District Officer at Cork County Council, Cllr Caroline Cronin, Chair of the West Cork Municipal, and Aoife Power, Administrative Officer at Cork County Council, at the launch of Michael Collins's diaries. Photo: Dermot Sullivan
Letters that give a remarkable new insight into Michael Collins’s international role have gone on display in West Cork for the first time.
The selection of letters were exchanged between Collins and Donal Hales, a fellow Cork man who was an Irish diplomat based in Italy from 1919 to 1922.
They will be on display in Michael Collins House Museum in Clonakilty throughout August alongside the Michael Collins Diaries which have been loaned annually to the museum since 2022 as part of a partnership between the National Archives and Cork County Council.
But this year’s diaries exhibition highlights a lesser-known aspect of Collins’ revolutionary work - his international connections.
Alongside the diaries, visitors will see for the first time a selection of letters, preserved in the National Archives, and which were exchanged between Collins and Hales that reveal a diplomatic relationship that ran parallel to the military and political efforts at home.
Donal Hales from Knocknacurra in Bandon, Co Cork, was an Irish nationalist and diplomat who had lived in Italy since before 1914, working as a teacher. He married an Italian woman and was well integrated into Italian society, which helped his efforts to build trade and political connections between Ireland and Italy.
He was appointed by minister Ernest Blythe as the consular and commercial agent for the Irish Republic in Italy, a role he held from 1919 to 1922. Based in Genoa, he played a key role in promoting Irish interests abroad during the War of Independence.
He maintained regular contact with Michael Collins, regularly sending him clippings from Italian newspapers and reports on European sentiment toward Ireland’s independence movement, while Collins sent him detailed accounts of British military actions in Ireland, and shared candid updates on the escalating conflict, political developments, and the challenges of building a new state.
Donal Hales used these letters to inform and influence Italian public opinion.
Experts say the correspondence, which was often personal in tone, reflects the trust Michael Collins placed in Donal Hales and the importance of maintaining international awareness during the War of Independence.
The letters also offer insight into the logistical and strategic support Hales provided from abroad, including efforts to secure recognition and resources for the Irish cause.
Mayor of the County of Cork, Mary Linehan Foley, said the Hales/Collins letters “significantly enrich" this year’s diaries exhibition and offer a more “intimate perspective on the lives and relationships that shaped our nation’s history”.
Orlaith McBride, the director of the National Archives, said loan partnerships like this reflect their commitment to preserving and sharing Ireland’s rich documentary heritage.
Admission to the exhibition is free, and Michael Collins House Museum will extend its opening hours throughout August, with full details at michaelcollinshouse.ie.
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