Michael Collins and the great escape

The Big Fellow broke six men out of Strangeways prison 100 years ago. The priority was Sinn Féin’s Austin Stack, but the two men would fall out bitterly, says Ryle Dwyer.

FRIDAY, October 25, marks the centenary of the escape of six people from Strangeways Jail in Manchester. The six included two high-profile members of Sinn Féin, Austin Stack and Piaras Beaslaí, both of whom had been elected to the British parliament as members of Sinn Féin in December 1918.