Editing Michael Collins (Irish leader) (section)

==Easter Rising==
[[File:Young Michael Collins Portrait.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Collins in Irish Volunteer uniform]]

[[File:Captured Irish soldiers in Stafford Gaol after the failed 1916 Easter Uprising.jpg|left|thumb|Captured Irish soldiers in [[Stafford Gaol]] after the failed Easter Rising. Collins is fifth from the right with an 'x' over his head.]]

The struggle for [[Irish Home Rule movement|Home Rule]], along with labour unrest, had led to the formation in 1913 of two major nationalist paramilitary groups which later launched the [[Easter Rising]]: the [[Irish Citizen Army]] was established by [[James Connolly]], [[James Larkin]] and his [[Irish Transport and General Workers Union]] (ITGWU) to protect strikers from the [[Dublin Metropolitan Police]] during the [[1913 Dublin Lockout]]. The [[Irish Volunteers]] were created in the same year by nationalists in response to the formation of the [[Ulster Volunteers]] (UVF), an [[Ulster loyalist]] body pledged to oppose Home Rule by force.

An organiser of considerable intelligence, Collins had become highly respected in the IRB. This led to his appointment as financial advisor to [[George Noble Plunkett|Count Plunkett]], father of one of the Easter Rising's organisers, [[Joseph Plunkett]]. Collins took part in preparing arms and drilling troops for the insurrection.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

The Rising was Collins' first appearance in national events. When it commenced on [[Easter Monday]] 1916, Collins served as Joseph Plunkett's aide-de-camp and bodyguard at the rebellion's headquarters in the [[General Post Office (Dublin)|General Post Office]] (GPO) in Dublin. There he fought alongside [[Patrick Pearse]], James Connolly and other members of the Rising leadership. The Rising was put down after six days, but the insurgents achieved their goal of holding their positions for the minimum time required to justify a claim to independence under international criteria.<ref>{{cite book|last=Clarke|first= Kathleen|title=Kathleen Clarke: Revolutionary Woman|publisher=Dublin: O'Brien Press Ltd |year=2008}}</ref>

Following the surrender, Collins was arrested and taken into British custody. He was processed at Dublin's [[Richmond Barracks]] by "[[G Division (Dublin Metropolitan Police)|G-Men]]", plain-clothes officers from Dublin Metropolitan Police. During his screening, Collins was identified as someone who should be selected for further interrogation, harsher treatment or execution. However, he overheard his name being called out so he moved to the other side of the building to identify the speaker. In doing so, he joined the group that was later transferred to [[Frongoch internment camp]] in Wales after two months captivity in [[Stafford Gaol]].<ref>[http://www.generalmichaelcollins.com/life-times/in-memorium/joe-oreilly/ 'Joe O'Reilly']. Collins 22 Society, undated. Retrieved 24 August 2024</ref> Historian [[Tim Pat Coogan]] describes Collins' fortuitous move across the detention room in Richmond Barracks as "one of the luckiest escapes of his life".<ref name="TP">{{cite book|author-link=Tim Pat Coogan|first= Tim Pat|last=Coogan|title=Michael Collins: A Biography|page= 50|publisher=Arrow|year=2015|isbn= 978-1784753269}}</ref>

Collins first began to emerge as a major figure in the vacuum created by the executions of the 1916 leadership. He began hatching plans for "next time" even before the prison ships left Dublin.<ref>{{cite book|first= Margery|last= Forester|quote= Nancy O'Brien cousin of Michael Collins|title=The Lost Leader|publisher= Gill & MacMillan, Limited|year= 2006|isbn= 978-0717140145}}</ref>

At Frongoch he was one of the organisers of a programme of protest and non-cooperation with authorities. The camp proved an excellent opportunity for networking with [[Physical force Irish republicanism|physical-force republicans]] from all over the country, of which he became a key organiser.<ref name="TP"/>

While some{{who?|date=August 2024}} celebrated the fact that a rising had happened at all, believing in Pearse's theory of "blood sacrifice" (namely that the deaths of the Rising's leaders would inspire others), Collins railed against the military blunders made. He cited the seizure of indefensible and very vulnerable positions like [[St Stephen's Green]] which were impossible to escape from and difficult to supply.{{cn|date=August 2024}} Public outcry placed pressure on the British government to end the internment and, in December 1916, the Frongoch prisoners were sent home.