My Little Dive into John Michael Collins
So, the other day, I found myself with some free time, which doesn’t happen often, let me tell you. I was scrolling through some history bits online, you know, just killing time, and the name John Michael Collins popped up. Mostly known as Michael Collins, right? Anyway, it struck me that I knew the name, vaguely associated it with Ireland, but couldn’t tell you much more. Decided then and there, okay, let’s make this my little project for the afternoon. Just figure out who this guy really was.
First thing I did was just type the name into a search engine. Simple enough. Got the basics pretty quick – Irish revolutionary, soldier, politician. Key figure in the early 20th century. Okay, standard stuff.
But I wanted more than just the bullet points. I remembered seeing a movie about him years ago, with Liam Neeson. Couldn’t recall much detail though. So, I started looking for maybe some articles or summaries that went a bit deeper than just the encyclopedia entry. Found a few pieces talking about his role in the War of Independence. This part got interesting.
- Started reading about his intelligence work.
- Looked into how he organized things, guerrilla tactics and all that.
- Tried to understand the whole Anglo-Irish Treaty thing. This was confusing.
Honestly, trying to wrap my head around the Treaty negotiations and the subsequent Civil War was tough. Lots of different perspectives, strong opinions even now. Spent a good hour just reading different accounts of why he signed it and why it caused such a massive split. It wasn’t just a straightforward history lesson; it felt like trying to understand a really complicated, messy argument where everyone had a point, sort of.
Didn’t watch any long documentaries this time, mostly stuck to reading. Found myself picturing Dublin back then, trying to imagine the atmosphere. It’s one thing to read dates and events, another to try and feel what it might have been like. That was the real practice for me, trying to connect with the human side of the history, not just the facts.
By the end of the afternoon, did I become an expert? Absolutely not. But I went from knowing basically nothing to having a much better sense of the man and the incredibly turbulent times he lived in. Felt like I actually did something, you know? Didn’t build anything, didn’t code anything, just spent time learning about someone. Felt pretty good, actually. A decent way to spend a few hours.
