Peter, Minnesota where he taught for 40 years. Kevin Byrne is Professor Emeritus of History at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. His biography, Michael Collins: A Life, was published in 1996 to generally positive reviews. Most well-known for his numerous publications about postal history and the work of Robert Burns, Mackay was born in Inverness Scotland, and educated in Glasgow. James Mackay (1936-2007) was a prolific writer and had a lifelong interest in Michael Collins. The class will discuss the first half of the book on October 27 and the second half on November 10. Participants are asked to read Michael Collin: A Life by James MacKay (Mainstream Publishing, 1997) in preparation for the Zoom discussion. It is free and open to all friends of the Celtic Junction Arts Center. This book discussion follows-on from a discussion last spring about Collin’s one-time colleague and eventual adversary, Eamon de Valera. Registration ends on Oct 20th to allow for time to read the book before the first discussion. A conversation about Michael Collins is especially appropriate this fall as August 22, 2022, marks the 100th anniversary of his tragic, and violent, death at the age of thirty-one. Readers will have the opportunity to evaluate Collins’ relative strengths and weaknesses, as well as Mackay’s treatment of his subject. In this readable biography, Mackay describes his work as a “labor of love,” but adds that he has tried to “let the facts speak for themselves”. He was deeply involved efforts to attain Ireland’s freedom from British control, both as a military strategist and a reluctant politician.

Collins was one of the most consequential figures in early 20 th century Irish history, yet for many a controversial one. Steven Griffith for a free, two-night discussion of James Mackay’s, Michael Collins: A Life.

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