A number of entries on his visits to Donegal are contained in a new book on the working diaries of Michael Collins.
‘Days in the Life, Reading the Michael Collins Diaries 1918-1922’ is published by The National Archives in partnership with the Royal Irish Academy.
From 1918 to 1922, ‘The Big Fella’ Michael Collins kept working diaries of his busy revolutionary life.
They are a collection of hurried notes, necessary lists, names and appointments, things to do, and things not done.
A spokesperson for the publishers confirmed to Donegal Daily there are mentions of Donegal in terms of him travelling the country, “gathering money for the Dáil Fund in 1919, as well as canvassing for the 1918 election.”
He was assassinated in an ambush at Béal na Bláth, West Cork, at approximately 8pm on the evening of Tuesday, August 22nd, 1922
In this book, Collins’ biographers, Anne Dolan and William Murphy, capture the nature of this new Collins source.
They reflect on how the diaries change what we already know about him, and the different ways they challenge us to think about his life.
The diaries begin with Collins a revolutionary among many; they end in 1922 with Collins as the most powerful figure in Ireland.
They begin with Collins, a single man; they end with him about to be married. The authors present thematic reflections on what the diaries reveal of his transformed life.
Original Michael Collins’ diaries at The National Archive.
Echoing the content and the texture of the diaries, the mix of the purposeful and the random that are days in a life, this book uses the diaries to consider critical moments in Collins’s revolution.
Because they are also the diaries of his everyday life, the book examines very particular episodes, the curious and ordinary entries, which allow us to see him from more angles than before.
Rather than offering the final piece that will solve the Collins puzzle, the diaries pose new questions to be asked.
Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin, spoke about the release of the book,
“I am delighted to support the release of this new book under the Decade of Centenaries 2012-2023 Programme to mark the centenary of the death of Michael Collins in August 1922,” Minister Martin said.
“It is a special book based on diaries never previously seen by the public.”
“I was honoured to be present at the birthplace of Michael Collins at Woodfield, Cork last November when the diaries were handed over to the National Archives by the family of the late Liam and Betty Collins, nephew of Michael Collins.”
In the intervening months, the National Archives has worked hard to conserve and digitise all five diaries thereby ensuring their long-term preservation.
Also speaking about the release of this book, Orlaith McBride, Director of the National Archives, said: “It is very exciting to have the opportunity to introduce Michael Collins’s diaries to a wider public and to begin a conversation about what they might mean and to contribute to what will undoubtedly be the collective effort of interpreting this new source.”
‘Days in the Life, Reading the Michael Collins Diaries 1918-1922’, is available at bookshops across the country, priced at €20. It is also available online at www.ria.ie.
A digital touch-screen featuring all five diaries will be available at the National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8 in September.