# Con Collins

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{{short description|Irish politician (1881–1937)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image         = Con Collins.jpg
| caption       = Collins in 1923
| office        = [Teachta Dála](/source/Teachta_D%C3%A1la)
| term_start    = [May 1921](/source/1921_Northern_Ireland_and_Southern_Ireland_general_elections)
| term_end      = [August 1923](/source/1923_Irish_general_election)
| constituency  = [Kerry–Limerick West](/source/Kerry%E2%80%93Limerick_West)
| term_start2   = [December 1918](/source/1918_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Ireland)
| term_end2     = [May 1921](/source/1921_Northern_Ireland_and_Southern_Ireland_general_elections)
| constituency2 = [Limerick West](/source/West_Limerick_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
| birth_name    = Cornelius Collins
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1881|11|13|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [Newcastle West](/source/Newcastle_West), [County Limerick](/source/County_Limerick), Ireland 
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1937|11|23|1881|11|13|df=y}}
| death_place   = [Dublin](/source/Dublin), Ireland
| party         = [Sinn Féin](/source/Sinn_F%C3%A9in)
| spouse        =
| children      =
| alma_mater    =
|}}
'''Cornelius Collins''' ({{langx|ga|Conchobhar Ó Coileáin}}; 13 November 1881 – 23 November 1937), known as '''Con Collins''', was an Irish [Sinn Féin](/source/Sinn_F%C3%A9in) politician.<ref name=IrishTimes>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/tv-takes-its-best-shot-yet-at-taboo-war-1.126930|title=TV takes its best shot yet at taboo war|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=22 January 1998}}</ref><ref name=Christianname>{{cite web|url=http://www.kilmainhamgaolautographbooks.ie/people/cornelius-collins/|title=The Office of Public Works. Cornelius Collins.|work=Kilmainham Gaol Autograph Books|access-date=6 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=Firstname>{{cite web|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/1918-election-your-constituency-4388399-Dec2018/|title=Who was your Irish MP in 1918?|work=Thejournal.ie|date=14 December 2018}}</ref>

He was born in Arranagh, Monagea, [Newcastle West](/source/Newcastle_West), [County Limerick](/source/County_Limerick). He had joined the [Gaelic League](/source/Conradh_na_Gaeilge) by 1910 when working in London for the civil service, as had [Michael Collins](/source/Michael_Collins_(Irish_leader)) the previous year. He was a member of the [Irish Volunteers](/source/Irish_Volunteers) and of the [Irish Republican Brotherhood](/source/Irish_Republican_Brotherhood). He and [Austin Stack](/source/Austin_Stack) had been on their way to meet Sir [Roger Casement](/source/Roger_Casement) at [Banna Strand](/source/Banna_Strand) in [County Kerry](/source/County_Kerry) in 1916 when they were arrested by the British authorities on Easter Saturday. They spent Easter Week in [Tralee](/source/Tralee) Barracks and in solitary confinement on [Spike Island, County Cork](/source/Spike_Island%2C_County_Cork); they were then held with [Terence MacSwiney](/source/Terence_MacSwiney), [Arthur Griffith](/source/Arthur_Griffith) and others in Richmond Barracks before being sentenced to penal servitude for life.<ref>Souvenir Booklet, Tralee Silver Jubilee Remembrance Week, 1941: reproduction of account of [Austin Stack](/source/Austin_Stack) published in the ''Kerry Champion'' in 1929</ref> He was deported to [Frongoch](/source/Frongoch_internment_camp) in [Wales](/source/Wales) where he spent the rest of the year and much of 1917.

He was elected as a [Sinn Féin](/source/Sinn_F%C3%A9in) [MP](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [Limerick West](/source/West_Limerick_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) at the [1918 general election](/source/1918_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Ireland).<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Conor-Collins.D.1919-01-21/|title=Con Collins|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> In January 1919, Sinn Féin MPs who had been elected in the Westminster elections of 1918 refused to recognise the [Parliament of the United Kingdom](/source/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom) and instead assembled at the [Mansion House](/source/Mansion_House%2C_Dublin) in [Dublin](/source/Dublin) as a revolutionary parliament called [Dáil Éireann](/source/D%C3%A1il_%C3%89ireann_(Irish_Republic)).<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.O.191901210004.html  |language=Irish  |title=Roll call of the first sitting of the First Dáil  |work=Dáil Éireann Historical Debates  |date=21 January 1919  |accessdate=11 April 2009  |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119184338/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.O.191901210004.html  |archive-date=19 November 2007 }}</ref> At the [1921 Irish elections](/source/1921_Northern_Ireland_and_Southern_Ireland_general_elections) he was elected for the constituency of [Kerry–Limerick West](/source/Kerry%E2%80%93Limerick_West). He opposed the [Anglo-Irish Treaty](/source/Anglo-Irish_Treaty) and [voted against](/source/Anglo-Irish_Treaty_D%C3%A1il_vote) it.

He refused an offer of the [Ministry for Posts and Telegraphs](/source/Minister_for_Posts_and_Telegraphs) if he would switch to the pro-Treaty side. Having been sworn to non-violence – together with [Richard Mulcahy](/source/Richard_Mulcahy) – by the Augustinians, he did not join the anti-Treaty forces. He was again re-elected for Kerry–Limerick West at the [1922 general election](/source/1922_Irish_general_election), this time as anti-Treaty Sinn Féin [Teachta Dála](/source/Teachta_D%C3%A1la) (TD). He did not contest the [1923 general election](/source/1923_Irish_general_election) and retired from politics.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1133|title=Conor Collins|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> He died in Dublin in 1937, aged 56, and is buried in Mount St. Lawrence cemetery, [Limerick](/source/Limerick).

He and [Piaras Béaslaí](/source/Piaras_B%C3%A9asla%C3%AD) share a distinction in that they contested and were elected in three Irish general elections unopposed by any other candidates.<ref name=elecs_irl/><ref name=beaslai>
{{cite web|url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=1018|title=Piaras Béaslaí|work=ElectionsIreland.org|accessdate=6 June 2009}}</ref>

==See also==
*[List of members of the Oireachtas imprisoned during the Irish revolutionary period](/source/List_of_members_of_the_Oireachtas_imprisoned_during_the_Irish_revolutionary_period)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110607070232/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.T.192201070002.html Contribution to Dáil Treaty debate]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before = [Patrick O'Shaughnessy](/source/Patrick_O'Shaughnessy_(politician))}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) for [Limerick West](/source/West_Limerick_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
       |years  = 1918–1922}}
{{s-non|reason  = Constituency abolished}}
{{s-par|ie/oi}}
{{s-new|constituency}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [Teachta Dála](/source/Teachta_D%C3%A1la) for [Limerick West](/source/West_Limerick_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
       |years  = 1918–1921}}
{{s-non|reason = Constituency abolished}}
{{s-end}}
{{Kerry–Limerick West (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Con}}
Category:1881 births
Category:1937 deaths
Category:Early Sinn Féin TDs
Category:Members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood
Category:Members of the 1st Dáil
Category:Members of the 2nd Dáil
Category:Members of the 3rd Dáil
Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Limerick constituencies (1801–1922)
Category:UK MPs 1918–1922
Category:Politicians from County Limerick

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Con Collins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Collins) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con_Collins?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.