New research has revealed that Michael Collins, a significant figure during the Irish Civil War, was caught in an armed clash with anti-Treaty IRA representatives in his birthplace of Clonakilty. This confrontation occurred merely days prior to the inception of the Civil War. A couple of months following this, the Civil War took Collins’ life. Historian Liz Gillis unveiled this information through evidence acquired from Nora Doyle, a prominent member of Cumann na mBan in west Cork, who witnessed the dramatic event at Donovan’s Hotel in Clonakilty.
In recounting the incident, Doyle mentions how she decided to sleep in Donovan’s Hotel, around the same time Collins was visiting home. She mentioned seeing Collins and his brother by the hotel’s entrance; not wanting to engage in conversation, she used another entrance. She went to her room and fell asleep. Around 2am, she was awakened by one of the hotel’s proprietors, Ms. O’Donovan, and a barmaid; they urged her to come downstairs due to some commotion occurring within the hotel premises.
Upon reaching the main floor, Doyle noticed Collins and a few drunken IRA men, all armed, embroiled in a tense situation. She revealed her distress over Collins’ state and expressed her fears regarding his future safety, especially considering a potential truce with England.
Liz Gillis, author of ‘Women of The Irish Revolution’, identified Nora Doyle as a credible source, given her respect and trust amongst key figures connected to both the anti-Treaty and pro-Treaty factions.
As the truce was agreed upon, it was commonplace for many IRA men to be engaging in heavy drinking, typically late into the night. This, after all, was their way to cope with the harrowing experiences of the past two years during which they were constantly fleeing and under the risk of death. Similar patterns could be seen with Collins, who was the director of intelligence and initiated the squad to eliminate the British intelligence’s G Men in July 1919. His letter to Donal Hayes in Italy, sent in December 1919, serves as an apology for his delayed response owing to the immense pressure he was under.
By 1919, the British had been vigorously hunting him down, hence he was constantly shifting locations. The immense tension he faced during the London Treaty talks in December 1921, only amplified his stress, making it unsurprising that he sought solace in alcohol upon his return to west Cork. Tragically, during a subsequent visit to west Cork, Collins was killed whilst returning to Cork city, after inspecting national army sites in Clonakilty, Skibbereen, and Bandon, as his convoy fell into an ambush led by the anti-Treaty IRA group at Béal na Bláth, near Crookstown.
The upcoming Sunday will see his death being commemorated, with Simon Harris, the Fine Gael leader, delivering the oration at the monument marking Collins’s fatal ambush, near Béal na Bláth. Interestingly, he becomes the third serving taoiseach to do so, after both Enda Kenny and Micheál Martin. The Michael Collins commemoration committee has asserted that a traffic management plan will be enforced and a shuttle bus service will be available from Crookstown village to Béal na Bláth Cross. Visitors will need to cover the final 900 metres on foot, as vehicle parking is banned in the proximity of the monument. The ceremony is expected to commence at 3pm.