With Michael Collins in the Fight for Irish Independence (ePub)

This book, which was originally published in 1929, is the frank personal record of an active participant in the Irish Revolution. Mr. O'Connor, a member of the Dail, was recognized as having been one of Michael Collins' closest associates, and his narrative covers the whole history of the movement from its earliest inception.Michael Collins (1890-1922) was an Irish revolutionary, soldier and politician who was a leading figure in the early-20th-century Irish struggle for independence.Collins' family had republican connections reaching back to the 1798 rebellion. He moved to London in 1906 and became a member of the London GAA, through which he became associated with the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Gaelic League. He returned to Ireland in 1916 and fought in the Easter Rising. He was subsequently imprisoned in the Frongoch internment camp as a prisoner of war, but was released in December 1916.After his release, Collins rose through the ranks of the Irish Volunteers and Sinn Fein. He became a Teachta Dala for South Cork in 1918, and was appointed Minister for Finance in the First Dail. He was present when the Dail convened on 21 January 1919 and declared the independence of the Irish Republic. In the ensuing War of Independence, he was Director of Organisation and Adjutant General for the Irish Volunteers, and Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army. He gained fame as a guerrilla warfare strategist, planning and directing many successful attacks on British forces.After the July 1921 ceasefire, Collins and Arthur Griffith were sent to London by Eamon de Valera to negotiate peace terms. A provisional government was formed under his chairmanship in early 1922 but was soon disrupted by the Irish Civil War, in which Collins was commander-in-chief of the National Army. He was shot and killed in an ambush by anti-Treaty forces on 22 August 1922.