Original subtitles

August 22nd, 1922, County Cork, Southern Ireland.

As twilight falls, a small military convoy approaches the village of Bel

Suddenly, shots ring out from a hillside overlooking the road.

The convoy stops, and a brisk firefight develops.

As the ambushes retreat, a tall figure breaks cover from behind an armoured car

to follow them.

He stops to fire and is then felled by a bullet in the head.

The leader of the new Irish Free State drops to the ground.

Is he dead?

And if so, who wanted him killed?

Civil wars are usually the most savage of conflicts.

Families are torn apart, friend fights friend.

Betrayal and intrigue add to the inevitable fog of war.

And when a leading figure is shot in a mysterious and apparently pointless way,

conspiracy theories soon start swirling about.

Never has this been more true than in the case of Michael Collins.

hit by a single bullet in the course of an ambush, shot because he chose to

expose himself to danger when the enemy was already running away.

Was it a planned assassination, or just a pointless and unnecessary accident?

Colin's shooting removes the one man who might have brought the Irish Civil War

to a swift and relatively bloodless conclusion.

Instead, it drags on for another nine months.

with increasingly savage atrocities and reprisals.

The roots of the conflict, which is to claim Colin's life, are ancient.

By the mid -17th century, England has conquered Ireland.

A Protestant ruling class controls a largely Roman Catholic population.

Throughout the 19th century, there are frequent demands for home rule, which

fail in the British Parliament.

In 1914, another attempt to push through a Home Rule Bill comes close to causing

disaster.

The Protestants in the north -eastern province of Ulster begin arming for a

fight.

Civil war and mutiny are only averted by the outbreak of World War I.

Tens of thousands of Irishmen volunteer to fight for Britain.

Nevertheless, demands for independence continue.

April 24th, 1916, Dublin.

A rising on Easter Monday is swiftly put down and the ringleaders imprisoned.

Violence flares up again after World War I ends.

Soon, a guerrilla campaign against continued British rule has begun.

Its military leader is Michael Collins.

His brilliant use of guerrilla tactics soon makes him the British government's

public enemy number one.

The man now recognized as one of the most brilliant exponents of

warfare is born in County Cork on October 16, 1890.

Collins becomes an ardent nationalist and is captured after the Easter Rising

1916.

Imprisoned in Wales, he becomes a member of Sinn Féin, a small nationalist party

led by the ambitious young politician Éamon de Valère.

At the end of World War I, Collins is released.

In the general election which follows, he's elected a British MP, but like

Sinn Féin members, refuses to take his seat.

The Irish MPs then set up a breakaway Irish Parliament.

The Doyle Era. This proclaims Ireland a republic.

De Valera is elected president, with Collins as adjutant general of the Irish

Republican Army and director of intelligence.

1920. Ireland.

Thus, when the British government tries to eliminate the new republic by force,

Michael Collins proves a master of guerrilla tactics.

ambushing enemy convoys and attacking barracks, stretching the British

to breaking point.

Colin swiftly recognises that one of the Irish Republicans' major disadvantages

is that their ranks are riddled with British spies and informers.

He is ruthless in tracking these down.

At dawn on November 21, 1920, hit squads kill 14 British agents.

Collins then extends the technique to identifying the key enemy intelligence

officers and targeting them for assassination.

The British react to the Republican campaign with ferocity.

Irregulars are recruited from unemployed former soldiers to supplement the

regular forces.

Known as the Black and Tans, these men become notorious for their savagery.

By 1920, the British are offering a vast £10 ,000 reward, equivalent of more

than a million pounds today, for Collins, dead or alive.

But nothing they do stops the fighting.

September 1920, London.

With a country exhausted by a dreadful war, the British government of David

Lloyd George soon recognizes that some sort of Irish home rule must be allowed.

Preliminary approaches are made to de Valera, and it is agreed that there

be a truce and negotiations on some form of home rule.

Cunningly, de Valera keeps his options open.

by refusing to lead the Republicans on the grounds that King George V will not

be leading the British delegation.

He selects Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith to do so instead.

Both are reluctant, sure that the British will not allow a fully

republic, and distrusting de Valera's motives for staying away.

October 1921.

London.

As anticipated, the most the British will agree to is a free state, still

the British Empire and with the King as its titular head.

The six counties of Protestant Ulster are to be partitioned off.

Griffiths and Collins know that this is far less than many in Sinn Féin and the

IRA want, but they are equally sure that nothing more can be gained immediately.

December 6th, 1921, London.

As he signs the treaty at 2 .30 in the morning, Colin says, I may have signed

death warrant.

Most people in the south of Ireland are desperate for peace and reluctantly

support the treaty.

Almost inevitably, de Valera denounces the treaty as a sell -out.

But, after a bitter debate, The Doyle approves it on January 7, 1922.

Immediately, de Valera resigns as Irish President and sets up a new party to

fight for a republic.

Many of Collins' former colleagues and friends in the IRA join him.

Nevertheless, the Free State is established, with Arthur Griffiths as

and Michael Collins as Prime Minister of the Provisional Government.

During the first part of 1922, Collins tries to win IRA support for the treaty.

But the situation rapidly spirals into civil war as both sides recruit former

soldiers.

April 14, 1922, Dublin.

Anti -treaty Republicans occupy the four courts, hoping to provoke an armed

reaction by the British who are then withdrawn.

The new Free State government refuses to react.

Stalemate ensues while a Free State National Army is built up.

Meanwhile, partition goes ahead.

And in the new Ulster, the Protestants launch a pogrom against the remaining

Roman Catholics.

One of the leading figures in encouraging this is Field Marshal Sir

Wilson, the Ulster -born former head of the British Army.

June 22nd, 1922, London.

Wilson is shot, very probably on the instructions of Michael Collins, as a

reprisal for attacks he has encouraged on the Ulster Catholic.

The British government assumes that it was the anti -treaty Republicans who had

carried out this killing, and it warns Collins that force will be used to clear

the four courts unless the Free State Government takes action.

June 28, 1922, Dublin.

Using artillery loaned by the British, the Free State forces bombard the

forecourts and then storm them, thus starting a civil war.

The Free State government enjoys the support of the vast majority of the

population of the South, and during the next six weeks it secures most of the

major cities.

ending with a seaborne landing in Cork on August 10th.

De Valera and the anti -treaty Republican forces withdraw into the

to fight a guerrilla campaign.

But the Free State troops are soon pushing after them.

August 12th, 1922, Dublin.

Arthur Griffiths drops dead of a brain hemorrhage.

Collins is left as the acknowledged leader of the Free State.

He's desperate to bring about a truth and arranges to go on a tour of

of recently captured County Cork.

August the 20th, 1922.

Collins drives to Cork to meet the local commander, General Emmett Dalton, a

close friend.

Many years later, Dalton describes his concern at his prime minister's trip.

I told him he was taking an unnecessary risk.

He said, surely they won't shoot me in my own county.

It is unlikely that Collins is aware of two facts which are soon to raise

perplexing questions.

The first is that the local anti -treaty commander, Liam Deasy, has called a

meeting of senior IRA officers at the village of Ville -Nabla, 20 miles west

Cork, for August 26.

The second is that a day earlier, Eamon de Valera will be visiting Liam Deasy

for secret discussions.

It may be a coincidence that the two leading figures on the opposite sides in

the Civil War are going to be in the same area.

at the same time.

But de Valera has also accepted that a truce must be arranged and is actively

trying to achieve this.

Was his meeting with Deasy an attempt to persuade him and then win over the

local commanders?

Was there also a possibility that de Valera is hoping to meet Collins?

August the 21st, 1922, Cork.

After spending the morning inspecting forces around the city, Collins drives

McCroom, about 20 miles away.

There he has a mysterious meeting with the leader of a small group of IRA men

who have remained neutral.

There is speculation that Collins hopes to use him as an intermediary to de

Valera.

Late that evening, he returns to Cork.

August 22nd, 1922, Cork.

At 6 .15 in the morning, Collins sets off in a small convoy to visit the

southwest of the county.

It drives first to McCroom and then back to Bandon so as to get to Clonacilty

and Skibberee.

Why it needs to take this roundabout route back to a town Collins has visited

just the previous night has prompted considerable speculation.

The convoy consists of a motorcycle outrider, followed by an open Crossley

with two officers and ten men, then an open Leyland touring car with two

in the front and Collins and Dalton in the back.

At the rear is a Rolls -Royce armoured car with a Vickers machine gun.

Collins was finished in Macroom by about eight o 'clock, and as the convoy

passed through the village of Bel -Nabla, It stops to ask the way to

The man asked is an IRA sentry.

He recognizes Collins.

Now the enemy leader is known to be in the area.

August 22nd, 1922, Belnavla.

Hearing that Michael Collins has been spotted, the local IRA commander decides

to prepare an ambush in case he returns that way.

Whether to kill or capture Collins is unclear.

Just as this is being discussed, Eamon de Valera, who has been staying

nearby, arrives and is told what is happening.

He is heard to say that it would be a pity if Collins were killed, since he

the most authority to negotiate a truth.

But the local IRA men tell him that he has no military authority over them, and

de Valera leaves without making any other attempt to persuade them to

the ambush.

The IRA men drag a cart across the road just before the village, and position

themselves along a lane which runs parallel to the north side of the road,

120 yards uphill.

At Bandon, Collins has a lengthy meeting with the local Free State Commander.

His convoy then goes on to Clonacilty for lunch, and then to Skibbereen.

At five in the afternoon, Collins leaves Skibbereen and drives back to Bandon,

where he has tea with local Commander.

Then the convoy sets out for Cork.

with the intention, apparently on Collins' instructions, of going first to

McCroom.

There has been considerable speculation as to why Collins wanted to go back to

McCroom three times in less than 24 hours.

Was he meeting the neutral IRA man again, who needed to get instructions

talks could continue?

There has never been a satisfactory explanation.

for it was a journey which was never to get beyond Belna Blah.

By now, the IRA men in the ambush have decided that Collins will not be coming

back. Most go off to the pub in Belna Blah, leaving two men to remove the

with three others on the hillside as lookouts.

August 22nd, 1922, Belna Blah.

At about eight in the evening, the lookouts see the motorcyclist leading

convoy. From now on, accounts of what happened become confused.

According to the lookouts, they fire on the truck while the motorcyclist leaps

off to take cover.

But John O 'Connell, in the Crossley truck, remembered it differently.

So we ran, before we had time to pull up, we ran right into the obstruction,

which consisted of a four -wheel horse tray full of porter bottles, and

a lot of porter bottles broken, thrown around the road.

Whatever really happened, instead of driving on, the lorry and car stop, and

Collins and Dalton jump out and run back to the cover of the armoured car, from

which they return fire.

The machine gun on the armoured car is also firing, but it jams frequently.

Nevertheless, after about 20 minutes, the machine gun fire forces the IRA men

the hillside to move back across the fields away from the village.

Colin sees them, and according to most reports, leaves the cover of the

car and runs back down the road to fire at them.

But this isn't how two witnesses remember it much later.

After a time, the firing lulled, and we only heard distant shots,

distant peals of shots like away in the direction of Cork, and General Michael

Collins stood up and had a gaze around him. He was loading his rifle in the

meantime, and whilst he was loading his rifle...

one lone shot, apparently like from a sniper, rang out and hit him in the side

of the head, the right -hand side there, fell down and he never spoke again.

I heard two shots being fired and I then saw

Michael Collins, I didn't notice him at the time, saw this man get up and

fall down again, you see, and I saw Dalton, whom I didn't recognise at the

Run towards him.

When Dalton reaches Collins, he's unconscious.

He had been shot. He was lying there.

With a very gaping wound to the back of his head.

So I called the armored car back, and we lifted him and took him onto the side

of the armored car and moved behind the armored car, with the armored car

between us and their firing position.

Got him to the...

positioned on the side of the road, and under protection of the armored car, we

bandaged the wound, I bandaged the wound, and O 'Connell said an act of

contrition to him.

I knew he was dying, if not already dead.

Collins is taken to hospital in Cork, but is dead on arrival.

Amazingly, neither at the time or later is any inquiry held as to who killed

Collins.

Officially, it remains the tragic result of a chaotic firefight, the sort of

unfortunate accident which can occur amid the chaos of civil war.

But very swiftly, rumours are beginning to suggest that Colin's death was

anything but straightforward.

The presence of him under Valera, his arch -rival, in the village where the

ambush was set up, has made many people assume that he ordered Collins'

assassination.

De Valera's words saying that Collins' death would be a major setback are

assumed to be a smokescreen to cover his involvement.

Just as he had used Collins to negotiate the treaty so as to avoid

responsibility for it, So he used other men to get rid of his arch -rival.

But there was never any certainty that Collins would come back via Bale -Nabla,

and no shred of evidence had ever been produced linking de Valera directly to

his killing.

One of the retreating IRA men on the hillside was an ex -British Army

As he pulled back, He stopped for one last shot at the tall officer and felt

that he may have hit him.

But the wound in Colin's head was later described as too large for a normal

rifle bullet, whether a direct hit or a ricochet.

It would have needed a dum -dum round.

And although it was claimed much later that the marksman admitted to having

of these, it has never been confirmed.

The wound was more likely to have been caused by the Mauser pistols being used

by gunmen on both sides.

Soon it was being suggested that the shot must have come from closer.

One of the men in Collins' escort might have hit him accidentally.

But more sinisterly, had one of the men on his own side seized the opportunity

to kill Collins?

If so, who might have wanted him dead?

Undoubtedly, the IRA set out to ambush Collins, but they may only have wanted

capture him.

By stopping his car and turning the ambush into a chaotic firefight, Collins

undoubtedly increased the chances of someone getting killed, and ironically,

was the only person to die.

The IRA had good reason not to want Collins dead.

They were desperate for a ceasefire.

And, as de Bolera had predicted, the death of Collins turned into a disaster

them.

Extremists like William Cosgrave took over the Free State Government, and the

killings dragged on for another nine months before a ceasefire was finally

agreed.

Not all his colleagues were united behind Collins.

Some wanted a more aggressive pursuit of the IRA, and may have been ready to get

rid of him.

It was pointed out that some of the men in Collins' escort had served with the

British during the war.

Their loyalty might be questionable.

This led on to the suggestion that Collins had been gunned down by a

planted by British intelligence.

But no convincing evidence has ever been produced for this idea.

Suspicion lingers on.

that either de Valera had wanted to get his most powerful adversary out of the

way, or that some of Colin's own side had wanted him dead.

If Colin's death were an assassination, then, as so often, the main

beneficiaries seem to be the most likely suspects.