1890-1922. Irish nationalist. He was a Sinn
Fein leader, a founder and director of
intelligence of the Irish Republican Army
1919, minister for finance in the provisional
government of the Irish Free State 1922 (see
Ireland, Republic of), commander of the Free
State forces in the civil war and for ten
days head of state before being killed. Born
in County Cork, Collins became an active
member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood,
and in 1916 fought in the Easter Rising. In
1918 he was elected a Sinn Fein member to the
Dail, and became a minister in the Republican
Provisional government. In 1921 he and Arthur
Griffith (1872-1922) were mainly responsible
for the treaty that established the Irish
Free State. During the ensuing civil war,
Collins took command and crushed the
opposition in Dublin and the large towns
within a few weeks. When Griffith died on 12
Aug Collins became head of the state and the
army, but he was
ambushed near Cork by fellow Irishmen on 22
Aug and killed.