From 1918 to 1922 Michael Collins kept working diaries of his busy revolutionary
life. They are a collection of hurried notes, necessary lists, names and appointments,
things to do, and things not done. They are a record of his long working days, and
they got him to where he needed to be on time. Though these diaries do not
contain conventional lengthy entries in which Collins finally reveals his innermost
thoughts, they still tell us much about this extraordinary man.
In this book, Michael Collins’s biographers, Anne Dolan and William Murphy, capture
the nature of this new Collins source. They reflect on how the diaries change what
we know about him, and challenge us to think differently about his life. The diaries
begin with Collins a revolutionary among many; they end in 1922 with Collins as the
most powerful figure in Ireland. They begin with Collins a single man; they end with
him about to be married. The authors present thematic reflections on what the
diaries reveal of his transformed life.
As they are also the diaries of his everyday life, the book examines very particular
episodes, the curious and ordinary entries, which allow us to see Collins from new
angles. Rather than offering the final piece that will solve the Collins puzzle, the
diaries pose new questions to be asked.