Programme of Events
| Sunday 14th | |
|---|---|
| 2.30pm | Hill Walk and Outdoor Theatre Event from Woodfield to Carraig a Radhairc. Hosted by the Sam’s Cross Michael Collins Commemorat Venue: Registration at Sam’s Cross at 2.30pm. Walk to Woodfield, birthplace of Michael Collins. Act 1 of radio play written by Tim Crowley to be played here. Proceed to the top Carraig a Radhairc hill where Michael walked with his brother Johnny on Christmas Day 1921. Act 2 of play will be played on Hill Top.Wear suitable clothing & footwear. Suitable for families and anyone of moderate fitness, no dogs allowed on this walk. (2 hours approx.) |
| 8.00pm | ‘Extraordinary Ordinary Women”- a presentation of words, songs and poetry by Karen Minihan followed by ‘Home Rules’ – a live play starring Pauline O’Driscoll. Venue: Michael Collins Centre, Castleview. |
| Monday 15th | |
|---|---|
| 1:00pm | “Last Footsteps of Michael Collins” Special Presentation by Tim Crowley.Venue: Michael Collins Centre, Castleview. |
| Tuesday 16th | |
|---|---|
| 5pm | Premiere of ‘Michael Collins, Tales From Home’; a short documentary by Lisavaird National School. Ticketed Event. Tickets: €5- available from Hurleys Fuel Store, LisavairdVenue: The Park Cinema, Clonakilty |
| 6:30pm | “Clonakilty At War” Hosted By Cumann Seanchais – A walking Tour of The Michael Collins, War of Independence and Civil War sites in Clonakilty Town. Venue: Starts at Michael Collins Statue, Emmet Square. |
| 8:30pm | “A Legendary Figure: British Perceptions of Michael Collins” by Gabriel Doherty. A History Talk hosted By Duchas Clonakilty. Entry: €5, no pre-booking required.Venue: Clonakilty GAA Clubhouse, Aghamilla, Clonakilty. |
| Wednesday 17th | |
|---|---|
| 1.00pm | “Last Footsteps of Michael Collins” Special Presentation and Tour by Tim Crowley. Venue: Michael Collins Centre, Castleview. |
| 8.00pm | History Scoops hosted by Michael Collins House. Three short, informal and engaging talks on the theme of Béal na Bláth. Venue: De Barras Folk Club |
| 8.00pm | Movie Night- Broken Harvest followed by Trad Music. Venue: The Four Alls Pub, Sams Cross |
| Thursday 18th | |
|---|---|
| 6.30pm | History Walk of Clonakilty Hosted by Duchas Clonakilty Location: Starts at Michael Collins Statue, Emmet Square, Clonakilty. |
| 7.00pm | Memorial Unveiling Official unveiling of a memorial to Jeremiah McDonald, a Free State soldier and friend of Michael Collins, killed on this date 100 years ago. |
| 8.00pm | Movie Night- The Wind that Shakes the Barley Venue: The Four Alls Pub, Sams Cross. |
| 8.30pm | Talk “Denis O’Neill – One Man’s War” by John Flannery- Venue: Michael Collins Centre, Castleview. |
| Friday 19th | |
|---|---|
| 7.30pm | An evening discussing history and memories of Michael Collins’ life in Woodfield, Sam’s Cross and Lisavaird presented by Sam’s Cross Michael Collins Commemoration Committee in conjunction with Cumann Seanchais Cloich na Coillte. Tickets: €10- available from available from Hurleys Fuel Store, Lisavaird Featuring: John O’Driscoll: Great grandnephew of Mary Anne O’Brien (Michael Collins’ Mother)- The O’Brien Connection Kyran Hurley: Grandnephew of Michael Collins Frank Gearty: Grandnephew of Kitty Kiernan Tim Crowley: Local Historian Followed by entertainment from: Johnny McEvoy, St James GAA Scór All Ireland Champions, Emma O’Flynn Dance Group, Lisavaird School Presentation, Half Set by local dancers, Trad Session |
| 8.00pm | Movie Night- Hang up Your Brightest Colours followed by Live Music.
Venue- The Four Alls Pub, Sams Cross |
| Saturday 20th | |
|---|---|
| 2.00pm | Michael Collins Commemoration Parade Brass bands, vintage cars, period dress and more. Location: Faxbridge through Pearse St. and finish at Emmet Square. |
| 2.45pm | Wreath laying ceremony by Cork County Board on behalf of Cork GAA Clubs. Location: Michael Collins Statue, Emmet Square |
| 3.00pm | Re-enactments and pageantry of some iconic scenes from Michael Collins life Location: Emmet Square. |
| 3.30pm | Band Recitals: Clonakilty Brass Band in Emmet Square Barrack Street Band in Asna Square Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Pearse St.) |
| 4.00pm | Michael Collins Symposium, Clonakilty Parish Centre. Venue: Clonakilty Parish Centre. Tickets: €10- available from walshjj25@gmail.com, O’Donovans Hotel and Michael Collins House Museum. ISL Interpreter* Michael Doran- The architect of Civil Service accountability & transparency. Gerry O’Connell-Michael Collins & the GAA. Mary Kenny- Michael Collins’ his religion and his relationship with Lady Lavery Tim Crowley-Michael Collins Final Journey. Other rooms will be set out for workshops, films and a replica of how Michael Collins classroom in that school looked. |
| 4.00pm | Museum Open Evening Venue: Michael Collins House Museum. Free Entry, No booking required. Last entry 7.30pm. |
| 4.00pm | Michael Collins Treasure Hunt – The Four Alls Pub, Sams Cross |
| Sunday 21st | |
|---|---|
| 11.00am | Wreath laying Ceremony- Sams Cross Commemoration Committee Venue: Sams Cross. |
| 3.00pm | Michael Collins Commemoration Oration @ Béal na Bláth |
| 4.00pm | World record attempt- Largest gathering of people named Michael Collins. Location: Newcestown Village. |
| 4.00pm | Clonakilty Black Pudding BBQ, Trad Music and Irish Dancing. Venue:The Four Alls Pub, Sams Cross |
| 5.00pm – 10.00pm | Outdoor Cinema Event Free event, no prebooking required. Spaces limited. Venue: Emmet Square 5pm: The Young Fella Documentary Premiere 6.30pm: Beloved Enemy (1936) 8pm: Michael Collins (1996) |
| 8.00pm | Paddy Cullivans Michael Collins stage show hosted by Creative Bandon. Tickets: €15 available on Eventbrite.ieVenue: Munster Arms Hotel, Bandon. |
| Monday 22nd – Michael Collins 100 Anniversary | |
|---|---|
| All Day | Open Day at Michael Collins House Museum (Long wait times anticiapated) |
| 5.30pm | Anniversary Mass in Church of the Sacred Heart, Lisavaird |
| 6.00pm | Coach trip from Clonakilty to Béal na Blá via Woodfield by Cumann Seanchais. |
| 6.15pm | A Toast to Michael Collins at the same time he left Sams Cross for the last time 100 years ago.
Venue: The Four Alls Pub, Sams Cross |
| 7.30pm
| Official wreath laying ceremony by Mayor of County Cork, Danny Collins to coincide with Michael Collins approximate time of death.
Location: Béal na Bláth |
| 9.00pm | Wreath laying ceremony.
Venue: Michael Collins Statue in Clonakilty. |
| 10.00pm | Wreath laying ceremony by Sams Cross Commemoration Committee Venue: Sams Cross. |
MICHAEL COLLINS FESTIVAL
Clonakilty, Aug 14th to Aug 22nd 2022
The Michael Collins Centenary Commemoration Festival will commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the death of Michael Collins but also celebrate his life and achievements. The programme will reflect Collins’ own interests with events ranging from sports and theatre to history, music, art and walks. Local groups involved in creating this programme are: Michael Collins House, Michael Collins Centre, the Michael Collins Commemoration Committee Clonakilty, the Sams Cross Commemoration Committee, Duchas Clonakilty and Cumann Seanchais Cloich na Coillte. We hope that in creating this programme we have an apolitical, unbiased, and sympathetic programme which has something of interest for all.
Other special projects, events and exhibitions will run throughout the summer:
Kilmurry Independence Museum.
Special exhibition:
‘Béal na Bláth – The local story’ which will launch on August 12th 2022.
The exhibition covers:
- Commander-in-Chief Michael Collins’ journey through Cork on the day
- Detailed map of the ambush site
- The anti-Treaty IRA personnel involved in the ambush
- The National Army convoy personnel
- The local safehouses where the Officers of the Southern Division of the anti-Treaty IRA were accommodated
- Commemorating the local anti-Treaty Volunteers killed that July in the Battle of Limerick.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a centenary edition of Michael Collins His Death in the Twilight, written by the late Edward O’Mahony will be republished as a fundraiser for KHAA, who run the museum and community space on a voluntary basis.
Michael Collins Centre, Castleview.
At the Centre visitors enjoy a comprehensive presentation on the life and times of Michael Collins. There are live illustrated presentations delivered three times daily, audiovisuals and a fine collection of Michael Collins artefacts and memorabilia.
Open Mon-Sat, Presentation start at 11am, 1pm and 3pm daily until August 26th.
Michael Collins House Museum, Clonakilty.
Located in the heart of Clonakilty this museum dedicated to Michael Collins tells his life story and the history of the Irish revolutionary years by self-guided tour or by guided tour.
Special Exhibition:
Michael Collins Diaries 1918-1922
In conjunction with the National Archives of Ireland, Michael Collins’ diaries will be on public display for the first time at Michael Collins House Museum. The organisational diaries give an insight into Collins daily life during these turbulent times. See his 1921 and 1922 diaries on display or turn the pages of history of all five diaries on an interactive screen.
Entry to this exhibit is free.
Elsewhere in Michael Collins House Museum learn the life story of Michael Collins including an extended exhibition about his early years in Clonakilty and a new Civil War display featuring Michael Collins death mask.
As part of the Michael Collins Commemoration Festival the museum will operate under extended opening hours for the month of August; open 7 days a week, 9am to 6pm.
West Cork Regional Museum, Clonakilty
A historical volunteer run museum featuring a number of Michael Collins and Irish War of Independence and Civil War artefacts.
Extended opening times for the duration of the Michael Collins Centenary Commemoration Festival 14th Aug to 22nd Aug.
Local Schools Competition- Shop window displays.
Every school in the area was invited to submit an integrated visual arts and history project on the Life and Times of Michal Collins. Open to children from 3rd to 6th class each school was requested to submit one entry. These projects are displayed in shopfront windows of co-operating businesses throughout Clonakilty for the Summer and will be judged for a cash prize fund of €1000.
Civil War Mural
To mark the centenary of the start of the Civil War a mural was installed in Croppy Park, Clonakilty. The mural by Cork artist Garreth Joyce, symbolically represents the war through an illustration of the Austin Clarke civil war poem ‘The Lost Heifer’. Set out over six panels the mural depicts each stanza of the poem. It tells the story of the heifer, an old symbol of Ireland and Irish culture, lost in the dark mists of the countryside before coming to the fore in more optimistic times in the post War of Independence period. The heifer then disappears into the dark rain of the incoming Civil War again. This bright, colourful mural looks beautiful and blends with surrounding foliage but has a deep meaning that illustrates the damage of the civil war. The mural is a Michael Collins House project, funded by the Cork County Council Commemorations Committee in association with The Walls Project.
Michael Collins House Museum manager Jamie Murphy who coordinated the project said: ‘We wanted to create a mural that tells the story and illustrates the tragedy of the Civil War. It is a very difficult and complex part of our history and something that is very hard to illustrate in an honest and unbiased manner so I think the artist, Garreth Joyce has found a brilliant way to achieve that through poetry and symbolism. Apart from it having this hidden meaning it is a beautiful artwork that really blends in with its surrounds and brightens up the area offering something for people of all ages to explore and learn about our history from.’
The mural is the second artwork in Clonakilty telling the story of the Irish revolutionary years. This first being the Truce Mural on Kent St which commemorates the end of the Irish War of Independence and depicts Michael Collins and other local revolutionary heroes.
Michael Collins Speech Reenactment.
This programme of events is not definitive and events/dates/times may change.
All events are subject to the terms and conditions of the hosting party. The views and opinions expressed as part of any event are those of the speakers and do not reflect the views or positions of the Michael Collins Centenary Commemoration Festival or its organising members.
