A NEW 108-page Michael Collins publication features previously unseen photos, accounts and archive made available for the first time by families of the main actors of this key period in Irish history.

‘Michael Collins News’, which was researched and collated by the Collins 100 Committee, was launched in Collins Barracks in Cork city last Friday.

Fidelma Collins, grandniece of Collins and Sean Hales, grandson of Tom Hales, who was in the ambush party at Béal na Bláth on that fateful evening on August 22nd 1922, officially launched the glossy magazine.

It was clearly evident that the popularity and legacy of Collins, with the interest in the history of the Irish revolutionary period, continues to grow apace.

The event launched this latest account, not alone of Collins himself but many of the other revolutionary activities in Cork and throughout the country during that tumultuous period.

Prior to the launch, attendees were treated to a historical tour and talk of the Collins Barracks Museum by Sgt Denis McGarry, museum curator and an acknowledged expert on Irish military history. 

MC for the launch was Traolach O’Donnabháin, while Connie Kelleher of the Collins 100 Committee explained the origins, achievements and future projects for the group, who were behind the installation of a statue of Michael Collins on the Grand Parade in 2023.

Upcoming projects include creating a fitting tribute to the imprisoned Cork volunteers (including Michael Collins) in the period after the 1916 uprising who were held in Frongoch Prison in North Wales. That prison itself became known as the ‘university of revolution.’

Tim Crowley, chairman of the Collins 100 Committee outlined the historical importance of the Collins Barracks site and its connection to the revolutionary period.

He highlighted one particular interview in the magazine with former Fine Gael TD Jim O’Keeffe, who was chairman of the Sam’s Cross Committee in 1965 which arranged that Tom Barry, former anti-treaty IRA leader, would unveil a bust of Michael Collins at Sam’s Cross.

This represented a powerful example of post-war reconciliation.

Sean Hales said he was delighted to launch the magazine and recounted many local and family accounts of the period and the interactions between Collins and the Hales family.

Fidelma Collins then shood hands with Sean in another great symbolic act of post-civil war reconciliation.

She recounted the great family historical tradition among all the Collins family and encouraged attendees to visit Collin’s birthplace in Woodfield if they had not already done so.

Michael Collins News retails at just €10 and is available at several bookshops in Clonakilty and Bandon and people can order it by post by emailing [email protected]