From 1918 to 1922, Michael Collins kept working diaries that documented his busy revolutionary life. These diaries, filled with hurried notes, lists, names, appointments and tasks recorded his long working days.
Lending of the diaries
In November 2021, the diaries were officially loaned to the National Archives by the family of the late Liam and Betty Collins of Clonakilty, Cork (a nephew of Michael Collins). This recognised the substantial contribution made by Michael Collins to the development of the Irish Free State.
Protecting the diaries
The Michael Collins diaries from 1918-1922 are fragile and require careful preservation. To balance the need for both protection and accessibility, they have been digitised. Visitors can explore these diaries through a digital touchscreen at the National Archives, allowing for detailed, page-by-page viewing without physically handling the delicate originals. This ensures both their longevity and access to all.
Engage more deeply
The book Days in the Life, Reading the Michael Collins Diaries 1918-1922, by Anne Dolan and William Murphy, offers thematic reflections on what the diaries reveal about Collins’s transformed life. The book uses the diaries to consider critical moments in Collins’s revolution and examines particular episodes, both curious and ordinary, providing new angles on his life. Rather than solving the Collins puzzle, the diaries pose new questions to be asked.
In partnership with the Royal Irish Academy, Dolan and Murphy brought this beautiful book to the public, telling the story of an extraordinary life lived in extraordinary times. The diaries, with their day-by-day insights into the last five remarkable years of Collins’s life, offer a compelling new perspective on the experience of revolution in Ireland.
Days in the Life, Reading the Michael Collins Diaries
Annual loan
Every August, the diaries are loaned to the Michael Collins House Museum in Clonakilty. This allows the local community to connect more deeply with their heritage and ensures that a wider audience can engage with Ireland’s history. Additionally, it raises awareness about the importance of preserving historical documents, highlighting the efforts taken to conserve and digitise these fragile items.
The digitised diaries are also on permanent display in the Michael Collins House Museum in Clonakilty at the request of the Collins family.
Public response
The public response to the publication and the annual exhibition of Michael Collins’s diaries in his hometown of Clonakilty has been overwhelmingly positive. Historians and the general public alike are fascinated by the insights these diaries provide into Collins’s daily life and the broader revolutionary period. The diaries offer a unique, personal perspective on key historical events as well as the mundane aspects of Collins’s life. The digital touchscreen enhances this experience, making the diaries accessible and engaging.
The book is available in bookshops nationwide and on line at www.ria.ie
Days in the life: Reading the Michael Collins diaries 1918-1922 – Royal Irish Academy
Michael Collins’s diaries to go on display in his hometown of Clonakilty – The Irish Times
