Collins, Michael (1890-1922), was an important leader of Ireland’s struggle for independence from the United Kingdom. He helped negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 that established the Irish Free State.
Collins was born on Oct. 16, 1890, near Clonakilty, in County Cork, Ireland. He moved to London in 1906, where he later joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a group that supported independence for Ireland, and the Irish Volunteers, a military group. In 1916, Collins returned to Ireland and took part in the Easter Rising, an unsuccessful attempt to throw off British rule. He was arrested and imprisoned in England and Wales.
After his release in December 1916, Collins became an influential member of the Sinn Féin political party, which sought Irish independence. In 1918, Collins was elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but he and the other Sinn Féin members who had been elected refused to take their seats. Instead, Sinn Féin set up Dail Eireann (the Irish parliament) in 1919, with Collins as finance minister. From 1919 to 1921, Collins helped to organize Irish resistance to British rule.
Collins and Arthur Griffith, another leader of Dail Eireann, headed the Irish delegation that negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The treaty ended the war and set up an Irish Free State. In 1922, Dail Eireann approved the treaty, but many members voted against it. The supporters formed a temporary government under Collins. The dispute over the treaty led to the Irish Civil War (1922-1923), and Collins served as commander in chief of the national army. On Aug. 22, 1922, opponents of the treaty ambushed and killed Collins near Bandon, in Cork.
See also Ireland, History of (The Irish Free State) ; Irish Civil War ; Sinn Féin .
