Michael Collins 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922

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 as to snivel over his valiant death.
So treat up your mourning and hang up your brightest colours in his honour;
let us all praise God that he did not die in a snuffy bed of a trumpery cough,
weakened by age, and saddened by the disappointments
that would have attended his work had he lived.

                    George Bernard Shaw, in a letter to Michael Collins' sister