Michael Collins was one of the most charismatic figures to emerge from Ireland's struggle for independence in the early part of the twentieth century.

The son of a farmer in remote West Cork, Michael was still only fifteen when he left Ireland to join his sister Hannie in London, the capital city of the British Empire, of which Ireland was still a part.

Here, he was to progress from post office boy clerk to working as an accountant in a prestigious American Bank in the city, work that gave him experience in both financial and organisational skills, which he would put to good use on his return to Dublin in 1916.

Having already been involved with Sinn Féin, the Irish Volunteers and the IRB in London, he quickly rose to prominence following the Easter Rising, when he returned to Ireland after his release from prison in England, in December 1916.

In February 1917 he became secretary of the National Aid Fund and later the same year Director of Organisation. After the setting up of the first Dáil in January 1919, he was initially Minister for Home Affairs but by April became Minister for Finance, a post he was to hold for most of his life.

From 1919 to 1921 during the War of Independence, it was his amazing organisational skills and his capacity to understand the minds of the English, with whom he had worked for ten years, that finally brought about a truce between England and Ireland in July 1921.

De Valera initially went over to London to discuss the setting up of an independent Irish republic but soon realised that this was an impossibility with the British government. In October of 1921, a second delegation, headed by Michael, returned to London, but after two months of discussions, which ended with an ultimatum by Lloyd George to resume the war, Michael and his colleagues reluctantly agreed to sign the Treaty, which led to the setting up of an Irish Free State, excluding the six counties in the North.

In January 1922, Michael was elected Chairman of the Provisional Government of the new Free State and was to spend the next seven months overseeing the departure of British troops and setting up the new Free State's various departments including a new police force and army. However, by July, the civil war erupted between pro and anti treaty factions and Michael became Commander in Chief of his new Free State army. He was also one of its first victims a few weeks later, when his convoy was ambushed and he was shot dead in Béal na mBláth, West Cork on Tuesday 22nd August 1922.

So ended his short but amazing life at the age of thirty-one.

Chrissy Osborne, author of Michael Collins: Himself and Michael Collins: A Life in Pictures