Michael Collins Popular Books
Michael Collins Biography & Facts
Michael Collins (Irish: Mícheál Ó Coileáin; 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary, soldier and politician who was a leading figure in the early-20th century struggle for Irish independence. During the War of Independence he was Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a government minister of the self-declared Irish Republic. He was then Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State from January 1922 and commander-in-chief of the National Army from July until his death in an ambush in August 1922, during the Civil War. Collins was born in Woodfield, County Cork, the youngest of eight children. He moved to London in 1906 to become a clerk in the Post Office Savings Bank at Blythe House. He was 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 January 1916 and fought in the Easter Rising. He was taken prisoner and held in the Frongoch internment camp as a prisoner of war, but he was released in December 1916. Collins subsequently rose through the ranks of the Irish Volunteers and Sinn Féin. He was elected as MP for South Cork in December 1918. Sinn Féin's elected members (later known as TDs) formed an Irish parliament, the First Dáil, in January 1919 and declared the independence of the Irish Republic. Collins was appointed Minister for Finance. In the ensuing War of Independence, he was Director of Organisation and Adjutant General for the Irish Volunteers, and Director of Intelligence of the IRA. He gained fame as a guerrilla warfare strategist, planning many successful attacks on British forces together with 'the Squad', such as the "Bloody Sunday" assassinations of key British intelligence agents in November 1920. After the July 1921 ceasefire, Collins was one of five plenipotentiaries sent by the Dáil cabinet at the request of Éamon de Valera, to negotiate peace terms in London. The resulting Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in December 1921, would establish the Irish Free State but depended on an oath of allegiance to the Crown. This was the clause in the treaty de Valera and other republican leaders found hardest to accept. Collins viewed the treaty as offering "the freedom to achieve freedom", and helped persuade a majority of the Dáil to ratify the treaty. A provisional government was formed under his chairmanship in early 1922. During this time he secretly provided support for an IRA offensive in Northern Ireland. It 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 in August 1922. Early years Collins was born in Woodfield, Sam's Cross, near Rosscarbery, County Cork, on 16 October 1890, the third son and youngest of eight children. His father, Michael John (1816–1897), was a farmer and amateur mathematician, who had been a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) movement. The elder Collins was 60 years old when he married Mary Anne O'Brien, then 23, in 1876. The marriage was apparently happy. They brought up eight children on a 90-acre (36 ha) farm called Woodfield, which the Collins family had held as tenants for several generations. Michael was six years old when his father died. Michael Collins (the younger) believed his family were descendants of the Uí Chonaill Gabra. He was a bright and precocious child with a fiery temper and a passionate feeling of Irish patriotism. He named a local blacksmith, James Santry, and his headmaster at Lisavaird National School, Denis Lyons, as the first nationalists to personally inspire his "pride of Irishness". Lyons was a member of the IRB, while Santry's family had participated in, and forged arms for, the rebellions of 1798, 1848 and 1867. There are a number of anecdotal explanations for the origin of his nickname "the Big Fellow". His family claim that he was called this as a child, as a term of endearment for an adventurous and bold youngest brother. The nickname was established by his teens, long before he became a political or military leader.At the age of thirteen he attended Clonakilty National School. During the week he stayed with his sister Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll and her husband Patrick O'Driscoll, while at weekends he returned to the family farm. Patrick O'Driscoll founded the newspaper West Cork People and Collins helped out with general reporting and preparing the issues. Leaving school at fifteen, Collins took the British Civil Service examination in Cork in February 1906 and moved to the home of his sister Hannie in London, where he became a boy clerk in the Post Office Savings Bank at Blythe House. In 1910 he became a messenger at a London firm of stockbrokers, Horne and Company. While living in London he studied law at King's College London but did not finish. He joined the London GAA and, through this, the IRB. Sam Maguire, a republican from Dunmanway, County Cork, introduced the 19-year-old Collins to the IRB. In 1915 he moved to work in the Guaranty Trust Company of New York where he remained until his return to Ireland the following year joining part-time Craig Gardiner & Co, a firm of accountants in Dawson Street, Dublin. Easter Rising The struggle for Home Rule, along with labour unrest, had led to the formation in 1913 of two major nationalist paramilitary groups which later launched the Easter Rising: the Irish Citizen Army was established by James Connolly, James Larkin and his Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU) to protect strikers from the Dublin Metropolitan Police during the 1913 Dublin Lockout. The Irish Volunteers were created in the same year by nationalists in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers (UVF), an Ulster loyalist body pledged to oppose Home Rule by force. An organiser of considerable intelligence, Collins had become highly respected in the IRB. This led to his appointment as financial advisor to Count Plunkett, father of one of the Easter Rising's organisers, Joseph Plunkett. Collins took part in preparing arms and drilling troops for the insurrection. The Rising was Collins' first appearance in national events. When it commenced on Easter Monday 1916, Collins served as Joseph Plunkett's aide-de-camp at the rebellion's headquarters in the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin. There he fought alongside Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, and other members of the Rising leadership. The Rising was put down after six days, but the insurgents achieved their goal of holding their positions for the minimum time required to justify a claim to independence under international criteria.Following the surrender, Collins was arrested and taken into British custody. He was processed at Dublin's Richmond Barracks by "G-Men", plain-clothes officers from Dublin Metropolitan Police. During his screening, Collins was identified as someone who should be selected for further interrogatio.... Discover the Michael Collins popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Michael Collins books.
Best Seller Michael Collins Books of 2024
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Concorde
Mike BannisterThe definitive account of the rise and fall of the iconic Concorde plane from British Airways' former Chief Concorde Pilot'A remarkable story' DAILY EXPRESS'A stonking good read' F...
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Falling and Laughing
Grace MaxwellIn February 2005, Edwyn Collins suffered two devastating brain haemorrhages. He should have died. Doctors advised that if he did survive, there would be little of him left. If that...
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Michael Collins
Eithne MasseyI want to be part of it, thought Michael. I want to be part of the song, part of the story.Listening to tales of old Ireland on a West Cork farm and fighting his corner in the...
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Life Is a Wheel
Bruce WeberLife Is a Wheel chronicles the crosscountry bicycle trip Bruce Weber made at the age of fiftyseven, an “entertaining travel story filled with insightful thoughts about life, family...
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1921
Morgan LlywelynThe struggle of the Irish people for independence is one of the epic tales of the 20th century. Morgan Llywelyn has chosen it as the subject of her major work, The Irish Century, ...
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I Love You, Michael Collins
Lauren Baratz-LogstedAmazon Editors' Pick Best Books of June 2017Semifinalist: GoodReads Choice Awards 2017 Best Middle Grade and Children's BookNational Council for Social Studies/Children's Book Coun...
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Two Dogs
Ian FalconerTwo Dogs has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.
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Michael Collins
Vincent McDonnell?Michael Collins is one of the most famous figures in Irish history. He became the most wanted man in the British Empire, a minister in the first Irish government and CommanderinCh...
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The Deep Dark Descending
Allen EskensA homicide detective hunts down his wife's killers while struggling between his thirst for revenge and a twinge of conscience forbidding him to take the law into his own hands. Hom...
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The Hunger Pains
The Harvard LampoonThe hilarious instant New York Times bestseller, The Hunger Pains is a loving parody of the dystopian YA novel and film, The Hunger Games.Winning means wealth, fame, and a life of ...
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Michael Collins
Tim Pat CooganMichael Collins (18901922) to dziś w Irlandii (i nie tylko) postać legendarna. Uczestnik Powstania Wielkanocnego (1916), brytyjski więzień, jeden z dowódców Irlandzkiej Armii Repub...
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Loyalty
Megan DeVosTHIRTY MILLION READERS WORLDWIDE. INCLUDES EXCLUSIVE NEVER BEFORE SEEN CHAPTER.'The Hunger Games meets The Road' MTVDon't look back. That's where the danger lies.With Grace left r...
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Ireland In The 20th Century
Tim Pat CooganIreland's bestselling popular historian tells the story of contemporary Ireland controversial, authoritative and highly readable. Tim Pat Coogan's biographies of Michael C...
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The First Poems in English
Michael AlexanderThis selection of the earliest poems in English comprises works from an age in which verse was not written down, but recited aloud and remembered. Heroic poems celebrate courage, l...
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Dictionary of Christianity and Science
Paul Copan, Tremper Longman III, Christopher L. Reese, Michael Strauss & ZondervanThe definitive reference work on science and Christian belief How does Christian theology relate to scientific inquiry? What are the competing philosophies of science, and do ...
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The Catalpa Rescue
Peter FitzSimonsThe incredible true story of one of the most extraordinary and inspirational prison breaks in Australian history.New York, 1874. Members of the ClannaGael agitators for Irish free...
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The Haunting Season
Bridget Collins, Andrew Michael Hurley, Natasha Pulley, Laura Purcell, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Elizabeth Macneal, Imogen Hermes Gowar & Jess KiddEight bestselling, awardwinning writers return to the timehonoured tradition of the seasonal ghost story in this spellbinding collection of new and original haunted tales.Long befo...
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The Last Resort Sugar Detox Guide
Michael CollinsIf you've tried to detox from sugar or conquer a stubborn sugar addiction before and either failed or possibly had some short term success only to somehow end up back in the same ...
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Michael Collins
Dr James MackayThe most charismatic figure to emerge during the struggles for the independence of Ireland was undoubtedly Michael Collins. This remarkable biography, which draws on much hitherto ...
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Leading Without Authority
Keith Ferrazzi & Noel WeyrichThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of Never Eat Alone redefines collaboration with a radical new workplace operating system in which leadership no longer demands an offi...
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A Brief History of Ireland
Richard KilleenFrom the dawn of history to the decline of the Celtic Tiger how Ireland has been shaped over the centuries.Ireland has been shaped by many things over the centuries: geography, wa...
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Anarchy
Megan DeVosTHIRTY MILLION READERS WORLDWIDE.'I reread them again recently and fell in love all over again!!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'I could NOT put it down' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'READ IT! You'll love it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐The world is d...
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Operation Moonglow
Teasel Muir-HarmonyThe moon landing was an important moment in history, but many forget what was happening behind the scenes discover the groundbreaking political history of the Apollo program in th...
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Java Spider
Geoffrey ArcherA British minister is a pawn in a deadly game played out in one of the world's most explosive countries Indonesia. His kidnapping does not fall under British jurisdiction and ...
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Michael Collins
Anne Dolan & William Murphy'It was the most providential escape yet. It will probably have the effect of making them think that I am even more mysterious than they believe me to be, and that is saying a good...
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1949
Morgan LlywelynMorgan Llywelyn's masterly epic, The Irish Century, continues in 1949, a sequel to 1916 and 1921.The struggle of the Irish people for independence is one of the compelling historic...
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Jackrabbit Smile
Joe R. LansdaleEdgar Awardwinner and fan favorite Joe R. Lansdale is back with Hap and Leonard's latest caper: investigating the disappearance of a revivalist cult leader's daughter. Hap and Leon...
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The Making of a Royal Romance
Katie NichollKatie Nicholl, Royal Correspondent for the Mail on Sunday, has been at the centre of royal reporting since she joined the newspaper in 2001. There is no one who is more intimately ...
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The Hidden People
Alison LittlewoodA chilling Gothic mystery from the bestselling author of Richard & Judy Book Club hit The Cold Season, perfect for fans of Susan Hill, The Coffin Path and The Silent Companions...
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Just For The Record
Geri HalliwellIn 2002, Just For The Record was the book that everyone was talking about. Then in 2003, repackaged in a new, compact massmarket format, Just For The Record did it all over again b...
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Awesome Achievers in Science
Alan Katz & Chris JudgePart of a super fun middle grade series, Awesome Achievers in Science puts the spotlight on lesserknown heroes and their contributions in major scientific fields.Everyone has heard...
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Lincoln and the Irish
Niall O'DowdAn unprecedented narrative of the relationship that swung the Civil War. When Pickett charged at Gettysburg, it was the allIrish Pennsylvania 69th who held fast while the surroundi...
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One Question
Ken ColemanThe motivating host of one of the nation's largest leadership conferences offers a collection of inspirational and applicable life lessons through conversations with various high p...
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Michael Collins
James BuckleyJeter Publishing presents the second nonfiction biography in a brandnew series that celebrates men and women who altered the course of history often without recognition. On July 16...
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The 13th Apostle
Dermot McEvoyThe storyboth romantic and terrifyingof how a handful of men, armed with nothing more than handguns and guts, forced the greatest nation in the world from their shores.On Easter Mo...
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Irish Miscellany
Dermot McEvoyWith Irish Miscellany, author Dermot McEvoy lets you revel in the fun and fascinating explanations behind Irish traditions and folklore. He offers the answers to questions you’ve a...
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Guerrilla Warfare
David RooneyThe history of the world's most brutal surprise attacks: guerrilla warfare. Since man's earliest days, there has been conflict and, also from that point, unconventional forms of ac...
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Mary Queen of Scots
Dr James MackayIn My End Is My Beginning is the story of Mary Queen of Scots (1542–87), the tragic heroine par excellence. Queen of an unfamiliar and troubled nation when she was a week old, it w...
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The Twelve Apostles
Tim Pat CooganIreland, 1919: When Sinn Féin proclaims Dáil Éireann the parliament of the independent Irish republic, London declares the new assembly to be illegal, and a vicious guerrilla war b...
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Michael Collins
Tim Pat CooganWhen President of the Irish Republic Michael Collins signed the AngloIrish Treaty in December 1921, he remarked to Lord Birkenhead, 'I may have signed my actual death warrant.&...
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Changeling
Mike OldfieldBorn without social instincts many people take for granted, brought up in a troubled environment and possessed with an extraordinary musical talent, Mike Oldfield was thrust into t...