If the assassination of John Kennedy is still a mystery and giving rise to all sorts of conspiracy theories sixty years later, the same is true of Michael Collins, arguably the most important man in the history of the Republic of Ireland, when he It has been more than a century since he was shot in the head from 150 meters with a rifle, at sunset on a summer day, on a small country road in County Cork (south-west Ireland). It is not known who did it, nor why.
An investigation on the occasion of the centenary of the most famous crime in the history of the Republic has not served to solve anything. Collins was the original IRA leader, commander-in-chief of its army and government finance minister, and shortly before he had signed a treaty with the British government establishing de facto independence for the country, but in exchange for the six counties of the Ulster became a Unionist and Protestant fiefdom under the suzerainty of London. A commitment that many did not accept and led to civil war.
The death of the most important man in Irish history was settled without so much as a death certificate
The war had already been going on for a year when, on August 22, 1922, Collins, protected by a security entourage of forty people, organized a small tour of a couple of hours through an area of County Cork controlled by the forces opposed to the treaty, with Eamon de Valera in front. Near a small village called Béal na Bláth, the procession was ambushed and all its members took cover where they could. Everyone, with the exception of their leader, who, defiantly, arrogantly or impulsively (he was a 31-year-old young man), exposed himself to bullets by running down the road. One of them hit him above the ear and caused his death.
Legend has it that his last words were: “Forgive them and bury me in Glasnevin (a historic Dublin cemetery) with my companions.” But what the new investigation has determined, after the umpteenth exhumation of the body, the examination of the cap that covered his head and the application of the latest forensic techniques, is that it is almost certain that he did not have time to say goodbye to anyone. and fell dead instantly.
Who killed Michael Collins and on whose orders? The main suspect is a former IRA member named Denis Sonny O’Neill, with a reputation for marksmanship, who fought with the British Army in World War I and later went over to the anti-Treaty forces. But documents found in the English and German archives of the time indicate that he emerged from the trenches with a 40% disability in his right arm (he was right-handed), which raises serious doubts about his identity as the sniper.
As for the final responsibility, the most general theory is that it corresponded to Eamon de Valera, leader of the rival forces to his in the civil war, and who would later become president of the Republic and father of the country. An alternative is that it was a conspiracy orchestrated by the intelligence services of the United Kingdom. And there are also those who believe that it was a kind of internal coup, and that the murder was perpetrated by a member of his own entourage to get him out of the way. Others think it was an accident, a stray bullet that ricocheted and hit his head.
In any case, it is to some extent incredible that the death of such a significant man in the nation’s history was settled with so many open questions and without even a death certificate. Everything to do with the Irish Civil War is still shrouded in silence more than a century later, with much of the trauma internalized, and perhaps that is the explanation.
What was Collins doing in enemy territory that evening of August 22? On the one hand, he needed to show that his army and his government controlled the entire national territory (which was not true), and on the other, it is speculated that he came to negotiate a possible truce with his rival De Valera. In any case, the expedition ended in the most tragic of ways, and his death changed the course of the country. A nearly hidden roadside monument near Béal na Bláth commemorates the place where history was written. A story of which very little is still known.