My friend Jay Anderson at Pro Ecclesia has a superb tribute to Michael Collins, on the anniversary of his death, the most talented soldier and statesman of Ireland of the last century. Go here to read it.
Prior posts on Michael Collins:
In Memoriam: Michael Collins
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Thanks for the link, Don.
I embraced my German roots since the reunification.
In believe Dev was safely ensconced in Brooklyn while the great man freed his native land.
The civil war was nominally about the pledge, the republic and the north – none of which then were remotely possible. It probably was a power struggle. Dev never even tried to get unification. He kept Ireland neutered in WWII, though.
I think Dev and his midget cliche could not rule while the great man lived.
“Why do we live like this? The violence and the hatred . . . “
Collins did not ‘free his native land’, as he himself admitted (advocating the treaty as a ‘stepping stone’).
Before anyone feels the need to comment on De Valera, they absolutely must first read Judging Dev by Professor Diarmaid Ferriter of UCD. Ferriter’s biography is the most up to date, having had access to previously unreleased archival material. He has changed radically the way historians view DeValera and refutes pevailing myths from the 1980’s.