Michael Collins is one of the great epics of modern cinema. No film made in Ireland has ever used as many extras or locations. With the co-operation of the city authorities street-scapes were changed to match photographs of the period. Huge sets were built for some of the more dramatic battle scenes. With a painstaking eye for detail, director Neil Jordan and his team have managed to brilliantly recreate the Dublin of the early twentieth century. They were helped by the fact that - despite the ravages of development - many of the landmarks of that time remain intact. A selection of the locations are highlighted below. Click on them and you will be taken on a guided tour of Dublin's historical sites.

Marshes Library | Fitzwilliam Square | The G.P.O. | O'Connell Street | The Custom House
The Four Courts | The Mansion House | The Olympia | The City hall
The Shelbourne Hotel | Trinity College | Dublin Castle

This is the oldest public library in the country. It was founded by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh in 1701 and opened in 1707. It was designed by Sir William Robinson, who was also responsible for the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham.
The library contains 25,000 books dating from the 16th to the 18th centuries, as well as maps and manuscripts. On of the oldest books in the collection is a volume of Cicero's Letters to his Friends printed in Milan in 1472. The collection also includes Jonathan Swifts 's own copy of the History of the Great Rebellion. Swift felt that Archbishop Marsh hampered his progress in the Church and 1710 he wrote a pamphlet aimed at the Archbishop.

The three alcoves in the library have remained virtually unchanged for three centuries.

This was the smallest and the last of the great Georgian Squares. It was built between 1791 and 1825 and it is the only square in the city-centre where the garden belongs to the residents of the square. The gardens in Merrion Square and St Stephen's Green have since become public parks.

Designed by Francis Johnston and opened in 1818, General Post Office in O'Connell St. is one of the city's most historical landmarks. In 1916 the leaders of the Rising read the proclamation from the steps of the GPO. In the siege that followed the building was destroyed by fire, with only the facade remaining. The Ionic portico still bears the bullet marks from 1916 and the start of the Civil War in 1922. It was reopened in 1929.

O'Connell St is Dublin's main thoroughfare. Formerly known as Sackville St, it was renamed in 1924 after Daniel O'Connell, the Irish leader who fought for catholic emancipation. A large bronze statue in honour of O'Connell was erected in 1854. Like the GPO this still has the bullet marks from the 1916 Rising and the Civil War.

There are also statues to William Smith O'Brien (1803- 1864), the leader of the Young Ireland Party; to Sir John Gray (1815-75), a newspaper publisher and a pioneer in the provision of mains water in Dublin.

The statue to Jim Larkin, a trade Union leader and organiser of the 1913 lockout, was erected in . One landmark which did exist when Michael Collins lived was the famous Nelson's pillar. The IRA , who regarded it as a symbol of British imperialism, blew it up in 1966, the fiftieth anniversary of the Easter Rising.

The Gresham Hotel is also on O'Connell St.

The Custom House was designed by the most famous architect of the 18th century, James Gandon. Gandon's other masterpieces include the Four Courts and the King's Inns, as well as some elements of the old parliament ( now the Bank of Ireland).

The Custom House was constructed between 1781 and 1791. It was a controversial project and met with opposition from the city merchants and dock workers, who were unhappy with the location.
In 1921 during the War of Independence it was destroyed by a fire, which raged for five days. The damage was so extensive that many feared that the building would have to be demolished. Others were of the opinion that it should not be restored as it represented British Imperialism. Fortunately, good sense prevailed and the necessary reconstruction was carried out in 1926 at a cost of £300,000.

A detailed examination of the stonework in 1979 revealed that the damage from the fire had caused deep fissures in the stone. Since 1984 repair work has continued in order to ensure that this architectual masterpiece will be preserved for coming generations.

The Four Courts on Inns Quay is another James Gandon building. Construction of the building began in 1786 and continued to 1802. Its central block contains Corinthian columns connected to flanking wings, which enclose quandrangles. It is one of Dublin's finest buildings and counterbalances the Custom House further down the quays.
The Four Courts played a brief role in the 1916 Rising but suffered major damage in 1922 when Michael Collins decided to use force to remove the anti-Treaty forces who had occupied the building. On Wednesday 28th of June a battery of four 18-pounder field guns began to shell the building. On Friday a huge explosion occured in the central area of the Four Courts, destroying the Record Office and its many irreplaceable historical records. This event sparked off the Civil War and the building was not restored until 1932.

The Mansion House was built in 1710 and purchased in 1715 by Dublin Corporation from Joshua Dawson. Since then it has served as the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It is essentially a red bricked Georgian House which has since been rendered and given some additional Victorian features such as the iron work at the entrance.
The Dining Room was the venue of many important meetings which Collins attended. Scenes for thefilm were shot here.

The Round Room at the rere of the Mansion house was built in 1821 for the visit of King George IV. It was here that the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1919 and the signing of the Treaty in 1921 took place.

The Olympia was built by Dan Lowry in 1879. It started life as the music hall, The star of Erin but was renamed The empire Theatre of Varieties in 1897.

City Hall was originally the Royal Exchange, which was built between 1769 and 1779 at a cost of £58,000. The architect, Thomas Cooley, beat the renowed James Gandon in a design competition for the building. The interior of the building has examples of the plasterwork of the leading Dublin stuccodore Charles Thorp.

The Royal Exchange was requistioned as a temporary military depot by the British authorities during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. This rebellion led to the Act of Union of 1800, which abolished the independent Irish Parliament and united it with the Parliament in London. The Irish leader, Daniel O'Connell, spoke against the Act at a public meeting held at the Royal Exchange in 1800. Subsequently, business in the capital deteriorated rapidly: by the 1840's the exchange was virtually idle. Dublin Corporation purchased the building in 1851 and on the 30th September 1852 the Royal Exchange was re-named City Hall at the first meeting held there of Dublin City Council.
The funerals of leading Irish patriots have taken place in City Hall, including Charles Stewart Parnell, Jermiah O'Donavan Rossa. In 1916 Easter Rising the building was seized by the insurgents.

In 1922 City hall became the headquarters of the Irish provisional Government, whose Chairman was Michael Collins. His office was situated on the ground floor of City Hall. After his death Collins was laid in state in City Hall in August 1922.

Permission was given to re-paint some of the interior walls for the filming of 'Michael Collins' and some scenes were shot in the Members' Room.

Built in 1866, there has been very little subsequent change to the exterior. It was occupied by the British forces in 1916 to put pressure on the insurgents in the College of Surgeons. In 1922, a room in the hotel was used to draft the constitution of the new state.

The Shelbourne stands on the north side of St. Stephen's Green, the first side to be developed. It has since become on of Dublin's most fashionable hotels.

Trinity located in the heart of Dublin was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth 1. By providing an educational establishment in Ireland, as an alternative to colleges on the continent, she hoped that students could avoid being 'infected with popery'. Trinity remained an almost exclusively Protestant until 1970, when the Catholic Church lifted its ban on Catholics entering. The Reading Room, where scenes from Michael Collins were filmed was built in 1937.

Dublin Castle, the centre of British power in Ireland until 1922, combines many architectural styles. It dates back to the 13th century. Today only the Record Tower, built between 1202 and 1258, remains intact from the original Norman Castle. The original castle was built on the orders of King John in 1204.

One of the most beautiful buildings in Dublin Castle is the Bedford Tower. It was designed by Thomas Ivory and erected between 1750 and 1760. Like many of Dublin's most important sites, Dublin Castle, was attacked by the insurgents in 1916. In 1922 Dublin Castle was handed over to Michael Colleens, Chairman of the Provisional Government.

A Special Note From Director Neil Jordan
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TM & © 1996 Warner Bros. and Geffen Pictures.