Michael Collins: Meet the women in his early life who raised the boy to become the man

Michael Collins’ father died when he was just six, and much of his childhood care devolved upon his eldest sisters. But who were the women in who shaped Michael Collins into an icon? 

The Collins family: Left to right Patrick Collins (Michael's brother), Mary Collins (Michael's sister), Michael Collins, Johanna O'Brien (his grandmother) and his mother, Mary Anne Collins.

The death of Michael Collins’ father when he was just six years old left his mother in charge of the family farm. She was just one of a number of influential women to shape the boy and the man.

Mary Anne Collins was somewhat used to the role, having had to take over much of the responsibility in her own (O’Brien) household after her parents met with an accident that killed her father and left her mother badly injured.