Michael Collins 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.
Michael Collins at the age of 8 with his family.
Collins as a young recruit
Captured Irish soldiers in Stafford Gaol after the failed Easter Rising. Collins is fifth from the right with an 'x' over his head.
National Army (Ireland)
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The National Army, sometimes unofficially referred to as the Free State army or the Regulars, was the army of the Irish Free State from January 1922 until October 1924. Its role in this period was defined by its service in the Irish Civil War, in defence of the institutions established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Michael Collins was the army's first commander-in-chief until his death in August 1922.
National Army soldiers aboard a ship during the Civil War
Wedding of Major Michael Joseph Bishop and Patricia Foley, 1924. "Major" Bishop (ranks were not fully standardised in the 1920s) was actually a colonel, as indicated by the three dark bands on his collar.