Funeral Oration at Burial of Michael Collins

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XLIX, Issue 42, 26 October 1922, Page 7

Funeral Oration at Burial of Michael Collins

GENERAL MULOAHY'S MORAL FROM THE TRAGEDY. -

General Richard Mulcahy, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, commenced his oration at Glasnevin on Monday in Irish (says the Irish Catholic for September 2). Speaking in English, he spoke at length, and in the course of hisremarks said: Our country is to-day bent under a sorrow such as it has not been bent under for many a year. Our minds are cold, empty, wordless, and without sound, but it is, only our weaknesses that , are bent under this great sorrow that we meet with to-day. All that is good in usall' that is strong in us—is strengthened by the memory of that great. hero and that great legend who is now laid to rest. We bend to-day over the grave of a young man, not more than 30 years of age, who took to himself the gospel of toil for Ireland—the gospel of working for the people of Ireland and sacrifice for their end, and who has made himself a hero and a legend that will stand in the. pages of our history with any bright page that was written ' there. Pages have been written by him in the hearts of our people thatwill never find themselves in print. But we lis>d, some of us, with these intimate pages, and these pages that will reach history, meagre though they be, will do good to our country, and will inspire us through many a dark hour. Our weaknesses cry out to us:' “Michael Collins was too brave!’’ Michael Collins was not too brave. Every day and every hour he lived, he lived it to the full extent of that bravery which God gave him, and it is for us to be brave as ho was, brave before danger, brave before those who lie, brave before those who speak false words, brave even to that very great bravery that our weakness complained of in him. Page From His Diary. When we look over the pages of his diary for August. 22, we read : Started 6.15 —Macroom, Ballinecn, Bandon, Skibbereen, Rosscarbery, Clonakilty.” » Our weakness says he tried to put too much, into the day. Michael Collins did not try to put too much into the clay. On Saturday, the day before he went on his last journey to Cork, he sat with us at breakfast, writhing with pain from a cold all through his body, and jyet he was facing his day’s work for that Saturday, and facing his Sunday’s journey and Monday’s journey, and his journey on Tuesday. . So let us be brave, and let us not be afraid to do too much in the- day. If all that great strenuous work of his was intemperate, it was the only thing that Michael Collins was intemperate in. Often with a shout, he used to get out of bed in the morning at 5 or 6 o’clock crying, “All the time that is wasted in sleep and would .dash around the room or into some neighboring room where some of us lay in the hope of another hour or two’s sleep, and he would clear all the blankets off us, or would pound vigorously at the door that prudence had locked. Crossing the square of the barracks on the Saturday morning; that I mention he told of his visit to one of the barracks in the South on his first trip there, and of finding? most of the garrison in bed at 10 o’clock; and of his thinking of all the lack of .order, . lack of cleanliness, .' lack of moral strength and efficiency that goes with this particular type of 'sloth,

and of that demoralisation following on the dissatisfaction that one has with oneself all the day that one starts with an \ hour’s disadvantage. “Oh,” he said, “if our fellows would only get up at 6 o’clock in the morning; yes, get up to read, to write, to think, to plan, to work, or, like An Riogh Eireann long ago,- simply to greet the sun, the God-given long day, fully felt and fully seen, would bring its own work and its own construction.” Let us be brave then, and let us work. Army and People. / Recent writings, and speeches, the recent break in our National silence that have disfigured the last few months, have seemed to emphasise the army as a thing apart and different from the people. Our army has been the people, is the people, and will be the people. Our green uniform does not make us less the people; it is a cloak of service, a curtailer of our weaknesses, an amplifier of our strength. The army will be a concentration, a crystal that -will crystallise out all the good, all the bravery, all the industry, all the clear intelligence that lies in saturation in the people, and hold aloft a headline for the nation. We are jeaelous for his greatness, , Words have been quoted as being his last words. v Michael Collins is supposed to have said the fragile words, “Forgive them.” Michael Collins never said these words, “Forgive them,” because his great big mind could not have entertained the ..obverse thought, and. he knew those who sat around him and-, worked with him, and that they, too, were too big to harbor in their minds the obverse thought. When Michael Collins met difficulties, met people that obstructed him and worked against him, he didn’t turn aside to blame them, but facing steadily ahead, he worked bravely fonvard to the goal that he intended. He had that faith in the intensity of his own work that in its development and in its construction he would absorb into one homogeneous whole in the nation, without the necessity for blame, for forgiveness of all those who differed from him and of all those who fought against him. He is supposed to have said; “Let the Dublin Brigade bury me.” Michael Collins knows that we will never bury him. He lies here among the men of the Dublin Brigade. Around him there lie 48 comrades of his from our Dublin Battalion; but Michael Collins never separated the men of Dublin from the men of Kerry, nor the men of Dublin from the men of Donegal, nor the men of Donegal from the men of Cork. His great love embraced our wljole people and our whole army, and he was as close in spirit with our men in Kerry and Donegal as he,, was with our men in Dublinyes, and even those men in different districts in the country who sent us home here our dead Dublin menwe are sure he felt nothing but pity and sorrow for them for the tragic circumstances in which they find themselves, knowing that in fundamentals and in ideals they were the same.. His Last Word. Michael Collins had only a few minutes to live and to speak after he received his death wound, and the only word he , spoke in these few moments ’ as. “Emmet.” [“Emmet” is the name bj* which Brigadier-General Dalton is known to his comrades in the army.] He called to the comrade alongside him, the comrade of many fights and many plans, and I am sure that he felt in calling that one name that he was calling around him the whole men of Ireland that ho might 'speak the last word of comradeship and love. /. Inscription on the Coffin. The following is the inscription : on the breastplate of ‘ the coffin of General Michael Collins: ' Michael 0 Coilean, Ard-Thaoiseach agus Ceann Arm na h-Eireann, Cathaoirleach an Rialtais Shealadaigh, agus ■ Aire Airgid Dail Eireann; d’eag an 22adh la de Lughnasa, 1922, i n-aois a 31 bhliain.—Trocaire De ar a anam. Following is an English translation of the inscription • . \ Michael Collins, General and Commander-in-Ghief of the Irish Army, Chairman of the Provisional Government., and Finance .Minister of Dail Eireann ; died on the 22nd day of August, 1922, in the 31st year of his age.—The. mercy of God on his soul. ■ Sir James Craig: Arrangements tip set by Melancholy News. ? Sir James Craig, who if? staying with Mr, Spender h Clay, M.P., at' the Fefew'inds, Sandwich .Bay, Said, ac--4 ■■■V. ■ ■ ' '. .' -

cording to an interview published in the Daily News: “I have already sent a message of condolence to the acting head of the Provisional‘Government, in Dublin. I am terribly upset at this tragedy, but at present I prefer not .to express any opinion.. This has naturally upset my arrangements, and for the time being I do not know exactly what I may be doing. In fact, I may be going to London to-morrow’ (Thursday)" to see Mr. Churchill upon the matter.” Lord Londonderry. Lord Londonderry, who is staying at his seat in Durham, when told the news, by an Evening Standard rep-' resentative, said.:—“l regret to hear the news. I was hoping that Michael Collins might ,be strong enough to deal with revolution and anarchy, in the South of Ireland, and his fellow-countrymen would soon realise the criminal folly of this internecine struggle. Although in my ideal I differed profoundly from Michael Collins, still I was anxious and willing to believe that in the restoration of peaceful conditions throughout the whole of Ireland and in the maintenance of law and order we were working together for a common object. That common object must not be lost sight of in any circumstances now, but must be pursued by all right-minded Irishmen, whether they live the North or in the South, notwithstanding the succession of tragedies which is gradually destroying Ireland and Irishmen in the eyes of all civilisation.” Cardinal “Stunned” :i Appeal to Conscience of Misguided Men. An enormous number of messages of condolence were received last week by the late Mr. Collins’s relatives and colleagues. Cardinal Logue wired to the Provisional Government from Carlingford:—“l have been stunned by the sad news of the death of General Collins. This second blow to the hopes of Ireland should awaken the conscience even of those misguided men who show their love of country by drenching its soil with blood, and leave behind them a trail of hideous ruin and destruction. The young patriot, brave and wise, was the chief hope of a peaceful and prosperous Ireland. I deeply sympathise with his colleagues and relatives,” . Other Messages. The Bishop of Meath, Most Rev, Dr. Gaughran wired: —“Deepest sympathy with Government and nation in this terrible hour.” Mrs, Arthur Griffith, widow of the late President, telegraphed to the Provisional Government offices: —“Deeply shocked at Ireland’s loss.” Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., wired from Cushendall: —“Am deeply shocked and grieved at General Collins’s death.' Please accept my deepest sympathy.” ‘ Lord Mac Donnell’s Offer. —Calamity of Collins’s death overwhelmed us, and wo offer you our deepest sympathy. If my services can be of any use to Free State Government I place them at your disposal.—MacDonnell, Swinford.” > Mr. John Mac Cormack, Dun Laoghaire.—“Please accept my deepest sympathy, in the great loss our country has suffered in the. death of the bravest-. of the brave, General Michael Collins, Our consolation is that his spirit still lives on to guide opr Ireland, —John Mac Cormack.” Killed on ’Wedding Date. The tragic fact was learned on 24th ult. that not only had General Collins’s marriage to Miss Kitty Kiernan of Granard, been fixed to take place this month, but recently the date had been settled' definitely as August 22, (Tuesday), the day on which he was killed. It was owing to the death of Mr, Arthur Griffith that the wedding was postponed. Miss Kiernan had already purchased her trousseau. ' Sisters’ Lament: Brother’s Sad Homecoming from U.S.A. The Press Association’s special representative in Dublin wired on 25th ult. —“Queues began to form in the early morning, .some hundreds of people were waiting when the doors of the City Hall were thrown open at 9 o’clock. Free State troops guarded the steps-and approaches to the chamber, and officers stood at the entrance to guide the people to where lay the remains of their distinguished loader.' Dublin, inured to tragic events, and suffering, as she is, has surely never before been' stirred to such depths

of grief, and the scenes within the hall will live in her tragic history.” His Nearest and Dearest. ■ ■ Perhaps the most poignant moments, were those during the mid-day hour when the doors of the hall were ■ closed to the public, and the relatives and closest friends of the dead general were admitted. Members of his family were grouped round the coffin and gazed longingly and with mute grief at the tranquil features. At the head of the catafalque’, within the shadow of the crucifix, stood a priest murmuring, in whispered tones, words of consolation. For half an hour or more they stood in silent contemplation, and then, reverently, the dead general’s sisters bent low and kissed him on the lips. The voice of the priest was then faintly heard blessing the body as he placed his hands upon the hands of the dead soldier, around which was entwined a rosary. Within the hall there followed a silence that was almost uncanny, and through the partially closed door could be faintly heard the stir and clamor of the city which mourned. ’ One could not forget the sense of tragedy underlying everyone’s thoughts. Mr. John Collins, brother of the dead general, who, while on his way to Dublin, was fired upon near Bandon and detained overnight, (broke down completely when he entered the City Hall. Bursting into tears he bent over the coffin and tenderly embraced the form of his dead brother. He knelt down beside the catafalque and remained for some moments bowed in prayer. Once more he bent over the body and, with unrestrained emotion, grasped his dead brother’s hands. From TJ.S. in Time for Funeral. During the afternoon the United States Shipping Board steamer, Seattle Spirit, of the Moore and McCormack Line, from New York, arrived at the North Wall extension pier, Dublin, having made calls at Fenit and Cork with general goods cargo. It was , ascertained that amongst those travelling from Cork by this United States steamer was Mr. James Collins, brother of the late General. There were also aboard Colonel Thomas Ennis, Lieutenant Lawless, and other highly-placed army officers. “What an Anniversary!” Touching Letter from General Collins’s Nun Sister. General Collins’s sister, who is a Sister of Mercy in England, has sent the following to her brother and sisters: “My beloved ones, what can I say to comfort you all in our mutual sorrow and loss which, alas, is not only personal but universal. May God help us to echo Michael’s dying words, which were our Saviour’s very own —‘ Forgive them.’ Yes, my darlings, we must pray for this spirit, for soon we shall follow.our beloved hero-brother to ‘the land that knows no sigh, where the tear from every eye is wiped away for evermore.’ Oh! we have much to be grateful for. For our own * baby ’ has fulfilled papa’s prophecy (R.1.P.). For down the ages the name of Michael Collins will be blessed for his fearlessness, nobility, spirit of forgiveness, and ' dauntless patriotism. Please God, it is the turning point in Ireland’s history, and we (his brothers and sisters) must, even in this bitter hour of sorrow, be worthy of our brave —(R.I.P.). I am 21 years in religion to-day, and what an anniversary! We had Mass this morning for Michael (R.1.P.). The Sisters knew about it last evening, but did not tell me until after Mass. The worst is now over (D.G.), and I had offered our Michael up when I heard about poor Mr. Griffith (R.1.P.). Now, my dearly loved sisters and brother, cheer up and say: * Thy will be done ’ and ‘ Father forgive them ’ from your very hearts, and soon (D.V.) we shall all be united to * Part or sorrow no more.’ With heartfelt love, ' and praying God to pour down on you and Ireland His holy consolation and grace, I am,, my darling sisters and brother, your ever devoted ‘ Lena ’ in Jesus Christ, Sister M. J. Celestine/’ English Transport Workers. . At a. National Conference* of Dock and Water Workers, held at Essex Hall on the 25th ult., to consider the wages : question, the commencement of the business reference was made to the death of Mr. Michael' Collins, and the following resolution was Unanimously carried, the ; delegates rising as v a , mark of ~ respect:—“This delegate conference of the Transport Workers expresses its deep

horror at the death of Michael Collins and its sympathy with the Irish nation in the loss of her two noblest sons, in the . passing jof Michael Collins -and Arthur Griffith. Sanity and statesmanship were never more necessary than at the present time, and we devoutly hope that at an early date peace will prevail in Ireland, in order that the Irish nation,, relieved of internal strife, may enjoy the position achieved after years of struggle.” ' Bishop’s Tribute to Lion-Hearted Hero: Grave Lined With Hope. Words of glowing eloquence fell from Most Rev. Dr. Fogarty in an interview regarding the loss of General Collins, “He was big in all aspects, save resentment,” declared his Lordship who likened the dead Commander-in-Chief’s work to that of Joan of Arc. \ Dr. Fogarty began by saying the death of General Collins was to him an intense sorrow. “I cannot think of him, the Bishop said, “without emotion. His personal charm was irresistible, like his high, commanding powers. “He was made by nature to conquer and to rule. In him the brave and tender, the gentle and the strong were richly and beautifully blended. “He had the heart of a lion, and yet was as soft as a child. Had he lived in the Middle Ages he would have been a coeur de lion, a knight of endless and dazzling romance. s ■ ■ Noble Nature. “He was big in all aspects of his character, save one, and that was resentment of which he had none at all. I never heard him say a bitter word of the English, even in the blackest days of the Terror, nor of his unnatural enemies in this disgraceful conflict, “General Collins’ last words, ‘Forgive them!’ are pathetic, but they are so like his noble nature. I need not speak,” Dr. Fogarty continued, “of his manifold abilities,, his resourcefulness, quickness of decision and indomitable will. His almost incredible achievements in the short spell allotted to him will be an emblazoned witness to the world and time. , “It seems but a day since he burst on the Irish stage like a youthful Sampson, almost a boy, with his white face, royal mien and jet black hair; and in three years he transformed Ireland by his titanic energy, forcing England to relax her powerful grip on Ireland, and winning for his country a triumph which Hugh O’Neill in his hey-day never dreamt of. “Had he fallen at the hand of an external enemy, we could have borne it, but that such a rich and bounteous nature, such a triumphant and romantic battler for Ireland’s cause, such a glory of our race and nation,, such an idol of the people should be slain by a spiteful faction of our own countrymen is a chagrin, a bitterness and a shame too heavy to bear. “They are not men who shot the noble life away from behind a hedge. j i Never Such Tears. “Inevitably we recall the history of Joan of Arc. She appeared suddenly, did her work for France, and disappeared almost in a day, burned to death by some of her own countrymen. “It seems to be God’s way, but the flames that extinguished the heroine’s life ’did not destroy her work. So will it be with Michael Collins —the work he did is indestructible; he gave us more than Orleans. “Sooner or later,” continued his Lordship, “and the sooner the better, the people will get going in earnest, and when they do, they will make short work of the wreckers. Then will the heroic figure of General Collins tower high in glory, while they who contrived his death lie buried in shame. , “Never was such a flood of dears rained on an Irish bier, never have the Irish" pipes wailed so piercingly for a stricken chieftain as they will when General Michael Collins, maker and leader of Ireland’s victorious army, the hero of so many thrilling episodes, the trusted standardbearer of Ireland’s hopes and fortunes, that ; gained for himself and her; the admiration, one might say,, of v all the world, will be laid to rest beside President Arthur Griffith .in Glasnevin. : , r x ‘ >' “But,” the Bishop concluded, “let the people dry their

eyes; that.grave is lined with Christian hope. As sure as. .Michael Collins will rise again from the dead on the Last \ Day, so sure -will ■ the Ireland; he lived '< and died for rise, and rise soon, please God, from her present-. woes to peace and prosperity." > wV x , ;