After the disastrous defeat of Irish rebels by superior British forces during the Easter Week rebellion of 1916, Michael Collins develops new strategies for the independence of Ireland. His tactics include what is now recognized as urban guerrilla tactics and organized assassinations of G-Men, those Irish who work as informers for the British, and later members of British intelligence. Although Collins is conflicted about the necessity of this violent course, by 1921 the British are willing to negotiate and Sinn Fein President Eamon de Valera sends a reluctant Collins to London to negotiate a settlement. When Collins returns with a compromise of a divided Ireland and an Irish Free State, not a Republic, he is vilified by de Valera and repudiated by lifelong friend Harry Boland after Boland learns that his girlfriend Kitty Kiernan is in love with Collins, not him. Collins is now faced with civil war as he struggles against those who insist on complete freedom for all of Ireland.

Despite containing several brutal scenes of violence, the film was given a very lenient 'PG' rating in Ireland mainly because of its historical context. The censor issued a press statement defending his decision claiming the film was a landmark in Irish cinema and that he believed "because of the subject matter, parents should have the option of making their own decision as to whether their children should see the film or not". The Film subsequently became the second most successful movie ever released in Ireland.

Michael Collins:
Give *us* the future, we've had enough of your past. Give us back our country, to live in , to grow in, to love.

Anachronisms: One of the sailing vessels pictured in the background as Collins, Boland, and Kitty Kiernan walk along the pier in the Dun Laoghaire Harbour is a Dublin Bay Sailing Club Mermaid. This class of 3-man racing dinghy was designed in 1932, 9 years after Collins' death.

Played by Davy Spillane
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (U.K.) Limited