The Man Who Made Ireland Essay, Research Paper
The notion of violence as a commonplace aspect of both Irish political and social life in the 20th century. From the Easter Rebellion in 1916, to the IRA and their paramilitary efforts; violence, on a state sponsored as well as in extra-military affairs, has persistently served to shape life in Ireland. From the center of this conflict and turmoil arose a young military man, Michael Collins. In his detailed account, Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland, author Tim Pat Coogan outlines Collins ascent from his youth to his ultimate place in Irish history. Collins rose the ranks in a few short years to become one of the most influential and powerful men in all of Irish history, and Coogan outlines his rise.
In this intricate biography, Tim Pat Coogan carefully crafts a structural framework for the legend that Collins life has become. The book opens with an account of the Rebels captured after the Easter rising in 1916. The purpose of this chronicle is to provide a mini preview for the reader of where it is that Collins will be headed in his life. From here the author reverts back to the childhood of Michael Collins in the chapter titled The Little Fella. Now for those readers, who are unclear on who Michael Collins was or what he eventually did for the nation state of Ireland, there is an important foreshadowing at the beginning of this chapter. Placed in a non-attention-drawing manner at the top of the page is a quote from Michael Collins Sr.: One day he ll be a great man. He ll do great work for Ireland. If a reader is unaware or not paying attention, they are likely to miss this forecast. The elder Collins uttered these prophetic words on his deathbed when the younger Collins was only 6 years old. The focus of Coogan s work is given to the time mainly from the Easter rebellion in 1916 to his untimely assassination in 1922. But even though the emphasis is not placed on the early years of Collins development, there is a significant link for Collins of who he was to who he would become. Collins as a young boy was little, but extremely tough. He always wanted to play with the older boys and would never let anyone bully him around. In addition, the 6 years that Collins knew his father were highly influential on him as his father stressed the importance of history, learning patriotic ballards, and at the early age of 11 he began subscribing to Arthur Griffin s The United Irishman. Although not a lengthy portion of the text, nonetheless Coogan makes every effort to show that what occurred early on contributed greatly to the development of Collins, the Irish legend.
From this point, there is a jump straight into the start of the Easter Rebellion, and quite a bit of important Irish history is quickly glossed over to get to this point. What is meant by this is that while Coogan does an excellent job reconstructing the life of the mighty Collins, he is not in the process of giving an outline of all Irish history that lead to this point. He does mention the many contributing factors, but he also assumes that the reader is somewhat familiar with the basics of Irish history. This is not a terrible assumption, because to delineate the entire buildup to this point in Irish history would take at least another 1000 pages, a luxury, which Coogan does not have. But in a tale of Michael Collins, he does a sufficient job mentioning those events that lend to the building of this time-bomb, enough so that if one was not familiar they would have some information and the opportunity to refer to another source. It is a difficult task for Coogan because many individuals who do not really understand the origins if the conflict may approach the text and not receive the full account. But again there is only so much Coogan can provide without altering his subject matter.
As mentioned, the majority of the text accounts for a mere 6 years of Irish history from 1916 to 1922. And at this point the importance of the prologue becomes apparent. Coogan develops through the text as much more than a storyteller. Coogan does more than simply relate the facts; rather he does construct a delightfully entertaining and creative biography. For example, the prologue is a quick glimpse of soldiers from the Easter rising being separated with some being led off to jail, while others were led to their death. After the amazing account of the Easter rising, Collins clad in his military uniform, as the shelling blasted around the city. The prisoners ultimately knew that those responsible for the Rebellion would be executed and they saw this as a message sent to others in the nation, they were prepared to be martyrs for their country and its freedom. But the reader also gains a sense of what Coogan is trying to say and that is, that one slight change and Collins may have been led off to the executions. Had this been the case, who knows where Irish history would have turned.
The body of Coogan s effort is focused on conveying Collins role in the formation of an Irish Free State and the violence that was continually linked with it. While the majority of Europe was in the trenches of World War I, the Irish were waging war on their own soil, against the British. The Anglo-Irish war which broke out in January of 1919, was typically called the “troubles” for it was more a series of ambushes, raids, assassinations, and guerrilla tactics rather than a full scale war. It was Collins who had been a student in recent years of military practices and techniques who had devised the plan for the ambush, assassination style warfare. But Collins foresight was not limited to military action, he knew that there was more to defeating the British. And his plan was to infiltrate the heart of British intelligence and gut the British from the inside out. Dublin Castle was the symbol of British authority in an Irish city and it was Collins who saw his opportunity to devastate the enemy. Unlike the CIA for the United States; Collins men, and in many cases women too, were regular individuals and not highly trained operatives. This was the premise of Collins plan, have ordinary men and women infiltrate Dublin Castle and gather all the information they could on the British. The Irish gathered details on British military plans, informants, and other crucial information. There were instanced where Collins had copies of military plans before they even reached a General s hands. In addition, the efforts in Dublin Castle helped to weed out informers and rats that turned against their Irish brothers. This activity engineered by Collins himself was an intricate part in the eventual break from the British motherland.
In his chronicle of Irish history, Coogan is never shy to tell the complete truth or shatter several of the myths surrounding key figures or incidents. For example, in the general election, through the combined efforts of campaigning and voter fraud, Sinn Fein won an astonishing 73 seats in the Westminster Parliament. On January 21, instead of heading to Westminster, 28 of the 105 Sinn Fein members who were not in jail or on wanted lists, gathered at the Mansion House in Dublin to form the Dail Eireann. At a second secret meeting of the Dail Eireann on April 1, recently escaped Eamon De Valera was elected Priomh-Aire, the equivalent of being head of state and chief executive officer. Arthur Giffith, Michael Collins, Cathal Brugha, Con Markievicz, and William Cosgrave all took their seats in his administration. With this new administration established, the “gun” in Irish history began to take on a severe political identity. While Collins’ official title was that of Minister of Finance, there was no doubt that Collins himself now had the IRA, formerly the IRB, as his pawn. Ominously, on January 21 that very day that the Dail Eireann convened in Dublin, the first two murders of Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) members by Volunteers took place in county Tipperary. From this point on the next several years were marred by ruthless violence, which would be inextricably intertwined with the creation of the Republic. Coogan openly admits that there was fraud involved in the election, but does not condone or condemn the actions. For Coogan, he does not glorify the violence or gun in Irish history; rather he sees it as an eventual necessary evil. Without this violence and military action there would have been continual efforts by the British to keep the Irish down. And while he does point out the instances where the Irish use excessive force, he counter points this with any similar actions by the British themselves. A prime example of this strike and counter strike maneuvering can be seen in the occurrences of November 21, 1920. On this day the IRA executed 11 unarmed British officers in Dublin on suspicion of their being intelligence operatives. A day later, two angry Black-and-Tans fired into the crowd at a Gaelic League football match, their actions resulted in the death of 12 seemingly innocent individuals and the injuring of hundreds more. This incident is historically referred to as “Bloody Sunday.” (In Irish history there are two dates typically referred to as Bloody Sunday , this is the first of such incidents)
IRA assassination, bombings, and other strategic attacks were riddling the countryside, and the RIC was doing all that they could to quell the violence, but the IRA was just too much for it to handle. Collins was exactly right, for he predicted that the way to get to the British was through this style of warfare, which would whittle at the British forces. The British had their hands full, but they were unwilling to send the British Army into Ireland. British officials began to seek they help of former soldiers and officers and send them into the fields with mismatched uniforms. Hence the Black-and-Tans, also known as the “Auxies”, were formed, so named for their dress and their auxiliary status. The IRA tactics had provoked a forceful reaction however; many feel that the Black-and-Tans behaved more like overbearing mercenaries. Both sides waged war on the same merciless level- assassinations, executions, and these guerrilla tactics were the norm for most of the island. Collins was a master of this maneuvering, but as Coogan continually shows, he was never satisfied and never would be until the whole of Ireland was a free nation.
Eventually, shaped mostly by public opinion in Britain as well as the United States, both sides agreed to sit down and work on a treaty. In June Lloyd George invited de Valera to London for talks without precondition. De Valera accepted and a Truce was set for 11 July 1921. At the time, the Irish leader of Sinn Fein and the Dail was still Eamon de Valera and he unexpectedly designated Collins and Arthur Griffith to head to Britain to negotiate with the Brits. The peace negotiations began on 10 October 1921 and lasted into December. On the 6 December Lloyd George gave the Irish delegation an ultimatum: sign or hostilities would resume. The problem with the treaty on the table was that it left Ulster, the vital province to the North as part of the British Union as the South was to become its own Republic. The dilemma: sign the treaty and abandon the brothers to the North resulting in a spilt among the Irish, or walk away and resume fighting against the Brits. At 2.10am Collins signed and turning to Lord Birkenhead, said, “I have signed my death warrant.” It was to prove a prophetic statement, one which Coogan refers to several times in the book. It is apparent that Coogan fully believes that Collins knew what would be happening to him at all times, he could see where the he and the state of Ireland were heading. Collins had always suspected that de Valera had sent him as a negotiator because it was a no-win situation. And there is a tone from Coogan that he believes this to be true as well. There is no clear evidence of this and it has been a chief area of debate among scholars for years.
The Dail met on 14 December 1921 to vote on the ratification of the treaty, and as they debated the topic, the conflict was looming. De Valera lead the group of anti-treaty forces, while Collins, Griffith, and Cosgrave constituted the pro-treaty sentiment. The splitting of De Valera’s cabinet was a microcosm of the imminent split within the nation. On 7 January 1922, the final vote was taken: 64 votes for the treaty and 57 against. Two days after the vote, De Valera announced the he and his cabinet were resigning in the wake of a “sell-out”. It seemed for the time being that conflict with the British was winding down, as the British Army was evacuated from Dublin Castle. Anti-Treaty forces were not going away, they posed an immense threat to the viability of the newly formed Irish Free State. The “gun” was fired again, this time by the anti-treaty forces. In April 1922, a defiant group of anti-treaty members seized the Four Courts in Dublin, trying to incite a response from Collins and the provisional government. Civil War ripped apart the nation, as Republicans and Free Staters waged war on one another. Again, prophetically, Collins ordered the shelling of the Four Courts and attacks on men who weeks earlier had stood at his side. He knew that this treaty must remain in place or else the entire notion of freedom would collapse, but at the same time he knew that it would also lead to his eventual death. Sure enough, with the quote of I have signed my death warrant” looming, the “gun” in Irish history fired once again; on 22 August 1922 the brilliant leader Michael Collins was killed in an ambush at Bealnablath (the Mouth of Flowers), county Cork, a single gun shot to the head. However, as with Irish history, the story does not stop with the death of Collins. Coogan continues in outlining the ultimate impact that the death of Collins had on the Civil War and the fate of the Irish Free State.
For his efforts, author Tim Pat Coogan does a remarkable job in delineating the life of Michael Collins and his impact on the formation of the Irish nation. Coogan does not create the legend of Michael Collins, for that had long been established. He does give a shining account of the man and his actions that at times serves to perpetuate the legend that Collins has become. However it must be noted that Coogan does stop short of any sort of glorification of the actions or events surrounding Collins. It is no doubt that Coogan sees Collins as possibly the most influential man in Irish history and thus titles his chronicle The Man Who Made Ireland. The author is a world-renowned Irish historian who was the editor of the Irish Press for over 20 years. In addition to his work on Michael Collins, he has also produced definitive works on Irish history and the IRA. His scholarship is the foremost of authorities concerning Irish history and the Irish people. Tim Pat Coogan does an outstanding job accounting for the life of Michael Collins and for anyone desiring to learn about the man, his legend, or the times surrounding his life this is a great read and I strongly recommend it to all.