Michael Collins (1890-1922)

Michael Collins, shown here in Irish Free State uniform, led the Republic of Ireland to independence from British rule. He fought in the Easter Rising of 1916, and later became the most important leader of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He helped negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 that ended the Irish Revolution, but this limited sovereignty agreement split the IRA, sparking the Irish Civil War. Collins became commander of the pro-treaty Free State forces, but after weeks of fierce fighting he was killed by anti-treaty republicans in 1922, at the age of 31.

Hulton Getty Picture Collection

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Ireland, Republic of; Collins, Michael (1890-1922); Ireland

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