COLLINS, MICHAEL
Typed letter signed in Irish ("Miceal O Coileain"), one page, on Rialtas Sealadach Na Heireann (Irish Provisional Government) letterhead, April 25, 1922. In this letter, written four months prior to his death, Collins writes to Michael J. O'Donnell, Esq., apologizing for not being able to meet with him regarding issues of government, and promising to have the Ministers for Local Government and Agriculture contact him to follow up. With additional manuscript note in Collins's hand below his signature stating, "my secretary here took it for granted that you would have called on me without notification."
[Together with:] Typed letter signed ("Elayna"), one page, on Dail Eireann, Department of Finance letterhead, July 30, 1921. From Michael Collins's secretary to Michael J. O'Donnell during Collins's tenure as Minister of Finance for Dail Eireann.

Michael Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader and major figure in Ireland's struggle for independence against Britain. Most documents from this period were destroyed, lost or discarded and thus records such as the two letters included in this lot are considered particularly rare. Collins held numerous positions within the government throughout his career. He acted as the Minister for Finance and Home Affairs, Chairman of the Provisional Government (Rialtas Sealadach Na Heireann), which he was responsible for establishing, and Teachta Dala in the First Dail of 1919, as well as Adjutant General, Director of Intelligence, and Director of Organization and Arms Procurement for the IRA. Additionally, he was one of the signatories of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in December 1921, and he was at the time of his death both President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Commander-in-Chief of the National Army. Collins was shot and killed when anti-Treaty attackers ambushed his convoy in August 1922, during the Irish Civil War. The circumstances surrounding his death are not well documented and are considered somewhat of a mystery.


Property from a Private Collection