Michael Collins

Michael Collins was born in Woodfield, Coolcraheen, near Clonakilty, in 1890 without medical assistance to Mary Anne Collins. The rectangular, single-storey stone cottage still stands as a National Monument, though the wider farmstead was burned by Essex Regiment soldiers on 7 April 1921. Its furniture and doors were handmade by his father, Michael John Collins, an adept carpenter who gave the humble house a crafted heart before tragedy stripped it away.