Michael Collins Killed: Ireland's Tragic Turning Point
Michael Collins was 31 years old and the most effective military leader the Irish independence movement had ever produced when he was shot dead in an ambush at Beal na Blath, County Cork, on August 22, 1922. Collins had negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty that created the Irish Free State but split the independence movement between those who accepted the compromise and those who demanded a full republic. The civil war that followed pitted former comrades against each other. Collins was traveling in a lightly armored convoy when anti-Treaty forces opened fire. His companions wanted to speed through the ambush, but Collins ordered them to stop and fight. A single bullet struck him behind the right ear.
August 22, 1922
104 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
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Irish Free State
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Commander-in-Chief
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Irish Civil War
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Michael Collins (Irish leader)
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Beal na mBlath
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County Cork
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Béal na Bláth
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Michael Collins (Irish leader)
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Commander-in-chief
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Irish Free State
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Irish Civil War
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Minister for Finance (Ireland)
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Ejército del Estado Libre Irlandés
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Southern Ireland (1921–1922)
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Anglo-Irish Treaty
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1890
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