22/08/2026
Today is the 104th anniversary of Michael Collins’ death.
On 22 August 1922, he was shot and killed in an ambush at Beal na Bláth. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
This model is a replica of the Collins family homestead at Woodfield outside Clonakilty. As the photos of Woodfield show this building no longer stands as it was burnt down in 1921.
The outhouses depicted served originally as the family residence and the main house was constructed in 1901, when Michael was ten years old. When the family moved to the house for Christmas 1900, this building was converted to outbuildings for the farm and was altered in subsequent years. No photographs or records exist of the dwelling before its conversion. But it is thought that it was a two storey building.
The family farmed 95 acres, a large holding at the time. There were 8 children in the family, Michael being the youngest.
Michael was educated at Clonakilty Boy’s National School and at the age of 15 went to live and work in England where he became involved in the Irish Volunteers movement. He returned to Ireland to fight in the Easter Rising of 1916 after which he was imprisoned until December of the same year. He became Minister for Home Affairs and later Minister for Finance.
In 1921, he was a member of the delegation which negotiated the Anglo-Irish Treaty establishing a 26 county Irish Free State and was Chairman of the provisional government set up to implement it.
At his birth, Michael's father predicted that he would “achieve great things for Ireland” & he remains one of our national heroes today.
