What Were We Like

On the 22nd of August 1922, Michael Collins was shot dead in Béal Na Bláth, County Cork. His death at just 31 ensured he would become one of Ireland’s most iconic figures, forever frozen in time. This week on What Were We Like, we explore the complicated legacy of Michael Collins. We also look at the significance of the revival of interest of Collins in recent years and the impact Neil Jordan’s film had on his legacy, despite taking some poetic licence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael Collins is now one of the most powerful men in Ireland. But events that will tear Ireland apart and lead to his brutal assassination in Cork are already set in train. In 1921 he is sent by De Valera to London to negotiate with the British on what will become the Anglo-Irish Treaty. With his striking good looks and his fierce reputation, London is gripped by "Collins mania". But on December 6th 1921, when Collins signs the Treaty, he is said to have remarked: “I'm signing my actual death warrant.” Within months, a brutal civil war breaks out across the country, and just over nine months after signing the Treaty, Collins is killed in an ambush at Béal Na Bláth on 22nd August 1922. His death remains one of the most shocking moments in Irish history resulting in endless speculation and conspiracy theories on what happened on the fateful day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 22nd of August 1922, Michael Collins, the Commander in Chief of the National Army was shot dead. He was just 31. Almost immediately the myth making around Michael Collins began, starting with the last words he’s alleged to have uttered. But what is the real legacy of Michael Collins? He was a man who operated as a politician but was capable of ruthless violence. On this week’s What Were We Like, we talk about Michael Collins, a man that has captured the imagination of the Irish public, film makers, artists and politicians like no other figure in modern Irish history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early hours of February 14th 1981, a fire ripped through the Stardust Nightclub in Artane in Dublin. 48 people, aged between 16 and 27, die in the tragedy. It is one of the worst fires, in terms of loss of life and significant injury, in the State’s history. In 1982 a Tribunal controversially found that the fire was "probably caused deliberately" despite no evidence. For 43 years, the families fought for justice for the 48 people who died and to get answers how their love ones died. This is the story of Stardust. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was one of Ireland’s greatest and most controversial playwrights. Sean O’Casey’s remarkable life began in the slums of Dublin and took him to the biggest stages in the world, including the Abbey Theatre. His work caused riots in Dublin and caused protests around the world, from Texas to Berlin to London. O’Casey made enemies of the Church and the Censors, forcing him to choose self-imposed exile in England. Through his plays, O’Casey asked fundamental questions about violence and challenged the founding myths of the new Irish state. They were questions a new Ireland wasn’t ready for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.