Michael Collins Ambush Site – Irish history fans may want to make a brief detour en route from Kinsale to Macroom to visit nearby Beal na Blath (Bale-nuh-Blah), where dynamic Irish rebel leader Michael Collins was assassinated on August 22, 1922, during the Irish Civil War. The site is not much more than a bend in a country road, with an Irish high cross on a raised platform to mark the spot. But it’s Ireland’s equivalent of Dallas’ infamous “grassy knoll”.
Next to the high cross, a plaque with a description shows the location. The plaque and monument was updated in 2022, so the story boards of the ambush – including those with arrows showing were the shooters were – are gone.
Dusk was falling as the convoy carrying Collins to Cork came under attack. Collins could have ordered his driver to speed off, but chose instead to stand and fight. The identity of the anti-treaty IRA guerilla who fired the fatal shot (thought to have been an errant ricochet) remains in dispute. Following his death, Collins’ body lay in state for three days at Dublin City Hall, drawing massive crowds.
Although his pro-treaty Free State army later won the civil war, it’s unlikely that modern Irish history would have been much different had Collins lived. While Eamon de Valera directed his country down the “comely maiden at the crossroads” vision, had Collins’ survived and taken power, Ireland likely would have been more secular and more integrated into the European economy – richer and more mainstream European.