At the beginning of June 1919 de Valera left for America in order to raise funds, and did not return until the end of 1920. He was joined by Collins' close ally Harry Boland. Collins was now left with Cathal Brugha to manage the war effort at home. Brugha's suggestion that the Volunteers take an oath of allegiance to the Dail was agreed in August 1920. From now on the Volunteers became increasingly known as the IRA (Irish Republican Army). In September, Sinn Fein, the Volunteers and the Dail were all proscribed. The ban drove the Dail underground and Collins concentrated his efforts on maintaining the guerrilla warfare strategy, which was proving enormously successful. Collins' spies, especially Ned Broy, kept him informed about all developments within the British forces. Collins also established an IRA intelligence staff. The main figures in this were Liam Tobin, Frank Thornton and Joe O'Reilly. O'Reilly later became known as the "guardian angel" and was effectively Collins' right hand man. One description gives some idea of his relationship with Collins: "He was courier, clerk, messenger boy, nurse, slave." Collins had also selected a group of Volunteers, known as the Squad, for the purpose of executing British agents. One of these, a young man, only 18 years of age, called Vinny Byrne, carried out many of the executions. Before killing his victims from close range Byrne would often say the words "May the Lord have mercy on your soul." Det Sergeant Patrick Smith was the first victim of the Squad. From then on the Squad carried out a series of ruthless killings which struck terror into the British establishment in Ireland.

Collins had become the most wanted man in Ireland, with a price of £10,000 on his head. Luckily, the police did not have a good photograph of him and Collins was able to cycle about the city to one of his offices. If stopped, he always kept a cool head and joked with the police or soldiers. Collins' most important contact was now David Nelligan, who worked in Dublin Castle, the seat of British power in Ireland. Nelligan was able to tell Collins about the movements of British agents and the Black and Tans. The Black and Tans, so-called because of the colours of their uniforms, were recruited specifically to deal with the IRA. They quickly gained a reputation for viciousness. The War of Independence became even more ruthless, with terrible atrocities taking place on both sides. Colonel Sir Ormonde Winter was put in charge of the British Secret Service in Ireland. He brought in undercover agents, who had been working in Egypt, and they quickly became known as the "Cairo Gang". Collins realised he had to work quickly to avert this threat. By October 1920 he had the names of the Cairo Gang. On Sunday 21 November 1920 the IRA execution squads acted decisively. In hotels and boarding houses throughout the city they shot British agents. The Black and Tan retaliation was swift. That afternoon armoured cars entered Croke Park where Dublin were playing Tipperary in a Gaelic football match. They shot dead fourteen people. It was one of the blackest days in Irish history and became known as "Bloody Sunday". It was a difficult time for Collins. He had lost many close colleagues, he was under constant pressure and the return of de Valera on Christmas Eve 1920 didn't help matters. The two men were completely different in temperament. Collins disliked de Valera's "brooding over every word, like a hen over an egg." In turn Collins' forthright style annoyed his older cabinet colleagues, Brugha and Stack.

De Valera supported more conventional tactics in the war against the British. The burning of the Custom House in Dublin resulted in the loss of many Volunteers. Nevertheless, it had a demoralising effect on the British. In the elections of May 1921, Sinn Fein once again swept the boards. Collins was elected in the six county area of Ulster, which had now been effectively partitioned off under the Government of Ireland Act. In June Lloyd Geroge invited de Valera to London for talks without precondition. De Valera accepted and a Truce was set for 11 July, 1921. When the peace talks were set for October, Collins and Griffith were unexpectedly chosen to lead the Irish team of negotiators. On Saturday 8 October, while the rest of the peace delegation travelled to London, Collins became engaged to Kitty Kiernan. The peace negotiations began on 10 October, 1921 and lasted into December. On the 6 December Lloyd George gave the Irish delegation an ultimatum: sign or hostilities would resume. At 2.10am Collins signed and turning to Lord Birkenhead, said "I have signed my death warrant."

It was to prove a prophetic statement. Collins had always suspected that de Valera had sent him as a negotiator because it was a no-win situation. De Valera now rejected the Treaty. Collins' opponents, Brugha and Stack, as well as his comrade Harry Boland sided with de Valera. On the January 14th 1922, Dail Eireann ratified the Treaty, establishing southern Ireland - 26 of the 32 counties - as a Free State with dominion status. The Dail was now split into pro- and anti-Treaty camps. De Valera resigned and Michael Collins was elected Chairman of the Provisional Government. The Provisional Government had now to take over the evacuated British posts. The first occupation was Dublin Castle itself, where Collins arrived seven and a half minutes late for the changeover. Collins remarked to the British general "after seven and half centuries we won't begrudge you seven and a half minutes."

Tension grew between the pro- and anti-Treaty sides throughout 1922. IRA units had taken over the Four Courts in Dublin in April. On the 28th June Free State troops began to bombard the building. The Civil War had begun. In Dublin it took a week of intense fighting to dislodge the anti-Treaty forces. Cathal Brugha lost his life. Harry Boland, who had been Collins' closest friend in the early days of the struggle, was shot dead in the Grand hotel in Skerries on July 31st. The news devastated Collins and he wept uncontrollably. The bitterness of the conflict worsened with each day. Former comrades fought one another and families were split on the issue. The Provisional Government began to retake cities and towns held by the Republicans.

On August 22, shortly after the death of Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins was on a tour of inspection in the Cork area. Returning in convoy from Bandon he was ambushed at Beal na mBlath (The Mouth of Flowers) and died immediately of a single gunshot wound to the head. De Valera, who was in the same area of Cork at the time, was shaken by the news.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Dublin for the funeral of Michael Collins in a display of public grief.

In 1966, while President of the Republic of Ireland, de Valera said: "It's my considered opinion that in the fullness of time, history will record the greatness of Collins and it will be recorded at my expense."

A Special Note From Director Neil Jordan
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