Guest Marian,

From 1996 article in The New Republic:

Collins was killed on August 22, 1922. By strange happenstance, just three days earlier, he had dined with Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Shaw, who were visiting the Free State. (Collins was an avid reader of Shaw.) On August 24, back in London, Shaw wrote to Collins's sister, Johanna:
"Don't let them make you miserable about it: how could a born soldier die better than at the victorious end of a good fight, falling to the shot of another Irishman--a damned fool, but all the same an Irishman who thought he was fighting for Ireland...? I met Michael for the first and last time on Saturday last, and am very glad I did. I rejoice in his memory, and will not be so disloyal to it as to snivel over his valiant death. So tear up your mourning and hang up your brightest colors in his honor."

There's also a documentary film about Collins entitled Hang Up Your Brightest Colors.

Song: From http://www.eirefirst.com/m.html - author not listed, I think -

MICHAEL COLLINS

The bark of a dog breaks the silence like a bitter last hurrah
And a raven spreads it's wings for flight over fields near Beál Na mBláth
With a rifle still clasped to his breast, but hanging low his head
A black August day in the County Cork, Michael Collins is dead

Hang out your brightest colours, his memory now recall
Each one wants a part of him but no-one wants it all

Working over in London town when he joined the I.R.B.
Sworn to use, both, deadly force, his native land to free
His squad is ready and willing to strike, his love for his ruthless charm
The Laughing Boy smiles at the castle, it's a smile to cause alarm

Chorus

A British intelligence agent is working from a Dublin room
Michael Collins adds a name to a list that will take men to the tomb
A spy slowly rises from his chair and walks across the floor
A man with a parabellum is knocking at the door

Chorus

Returning then to London town, who will take the blame?
The Treaty lies before him, Michael Collins adds his name
A darker time lies across the land, who will bear the load?
An awkward hero in an armoured car on an Irish country road

Chorus

The bark of a dog breaks the silence like a bitter last hurrah
And a raven spreads it's wings for flight over fields near Beál Na mBláth


(Derek Warfield wrote a different song with same title, honoring Collins. Derek is, or was, of The Wolfe Tones, the premiere entertainment corps of SF/IRA republicanism. So, it *must* be OK to like Michael: I rest my case.)

Lots of links to Collins-related websites.