What if Michael Collins had survived the Civil War?

History Ireland

This Hege School was recorded at the Electric Picnic 2022 immediately after Paddy Cullivan's historical entertainment, 'The Murder of Michael Collins'. Details here www.paddycullivan.com.

On 22 August 1922, Michael Collins was killed at Béal na Bláth, Co. Cork. But what if he had survived? Would he have become a military dictator? (Was he one already?) Would he have been more or less ruthless than his successors in prosecuting the Civil War? Would he have torn up the Treaty and launched an invasion of the North? What if he and not Eoin O’Duffy had later become leader of the Blueshirts? And if he, rather than Dev, had become Ireland’s dominant statesman, would his economic or social policies have been any different? Join History Ireland editor, Tommy Graham, in discussion with Paddy Cullivan, Brian Hanley, David McCullagh, Fearghal McGarry and Margaret O’Callaghan.

The Hedge School series of podcasts is produced by History Ireland and the Wordwell Group.
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