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| 1890 | Birth |  |
| 16th Oct Sam's Cross Birth of Michael John ("Mick") Collins |
| 1916 | Easter Rebelllion | |
| April Dublin Collins , like many of the rising's participants, is arrested, almost sent to the gallows and winds up at Frongoch internment camp |
| April Dublin Collins railed against what he perceived as its ham-fisted amateurism, notably the seizure of indefensible and very vulnerable positions such as St Stephen's Green that were impossible to escape from and difficult to supply |
| April Dublin Fights alongside Patrick Pearse and others in the General Post Office |
| 1917 | Irish Volunteers | |
| Collins rises to become a member of the executive of Sinn Fin and director of organisation of the Irish Volunteers |
| 1917 | Sinn Fein | |
| Collins rises to become a member of the executive of Sinn Fin and director of organisation of the Irish Volunteers |
| 1918 | Constitution | |
| Dublin Collins is elected MP for Cork South, Sinn Fein do not take their seats in Westminster, but instead set up an Irish Parliament in Dublin |
| 1918 | Election | |
| Cork Collins is elected MP for Cork South, Sinn Fein do not take their seats in Westminster, but instead set up an Irish Parliament in Dublin |
| 1919 | Arrest | |
| April Cathal Brugha is elected Promh Aire (literally Prime Minister, translated as "President of Dil ireann"), to be replaced by de Valera, when Collins helps him escape from Lincoln prison, in April, 1919 |
| 1919 | Assassination | |
| Jan Soloheadbeg The Irish War of Independence begins on the same day the First Dil meets, when two policemen guarding a consignment of gelignite are shot dead by IRA volunteers acting without orders |
| 1919 | Constitution | |
| Jan Dublin That new parliament, called Dil ireann (meaning "Assembly of Ireland", First Dil) meets in the Mansion House |
| 1919 | Dail Eireann | |
| Jan Dublin Cathal Brugha is elected Promh Aire (literally Prime Minister, translated as "President of Dil ireann"), to be replaced by de Valera, when Collins helps him escape from Lincoln prison, in April, 1919 |
| Jan Dublin That new parliament, called Dil ireann (meaning "Assembly of Ireland", First Dil) meets in the Mansion House |
| 1919 | Director of Intelligence | |
| Appointed Director of Intelligence of the Irish Republican Army |
| 1919 | IRA | |
| Collins and Richard Mulcahy become the two principal central organisers for the Irish Republican Army |
| Helps found the IRA & becomes its Director of Intelligence |
| 1919 | Minister of Finance | |
| Jan Appointed to the Aireacht (ministry) as Minister for Finance |
| 1919 | National Loan | |
| Jan Lenin sends a representative to Dublin to borrow some money from the Irish Republic to help fund the Russian Republic, offering some of the Russian Crown Jewels as collateral |
| Jan Produces a Finance Ministry that is able to organise a large bond issue in the form of a "National Loan" to fund the new Irish Republic |
| 1919 | President | |
| Elected President of the IRB (and therefore, in the doctrine of that organisation, de jure President of the Irish Republic) |
| 1919 | Twelve Apostles, The | |
| Jan Creates a special assassination squad called The Twelve Apostles to kill British agents |
| 1920 | Bounty Collins | |
| The British offer a bounty of 10,000 for information leading to the capture or death of Michael Collins |
| 1920 | Flying Columns | |
| Collins is credited with organising the IRA's guerrilla "flying columns" but the main organiser is Dick McKee |
| 1921 | Ambush Collins | |
| 22nd Aug Cork Collins crushes opposition to the Free State Treaty in Dublin & is ambushed in Cork |
| 1921 | Constitution | |
| 6th Dec London Negotiations ultimately result in the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921, which provides for a new Irish State, named the "Irish Free State" |
| 1921 | Death | |
| 22nd Aug Cork Death of Michael Collins |
| 1921 | Independence | |
| 6th Dec London Negotiations ultimately result in the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921, which provides for a new Irish State, named the "Irish Free State" |
| 6th Dec London The new Irish Free State is to be a Dominion, with a bicameral parliament, executive authority vested in the king but exercised by an Irish government elected by a lower house called Dil ireann |
| 1921 | Irish Free State | |
| 6th Dec London Negotiations ultimately result in the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921, which provides for a new Irish State, named the "Irish Free State" |
| 6th Dec London The new Irish Free State is to be a Dominion, with a bicameral parliament, executive authority vested in the king but exercised by an Irish government elected by a lower house called Dil ireann |
| 1921 | Peace | |
| London de Valera nominates a team of delegates headed by Arthur Griffith, with Michael Collins as his deputy, Collins agreed to go to London |
| 11th Oct London Collins takes up quarters at 15 Cadogan Gardens. His personal staff included Liam Tobin, Ned Broy and Joe McGrath |
| 11th Oct London Irish Treaty delegates Arthur Griffith (leader) and Robert Barton (with Robert Erskine Childers as Secretary General to the delegation) set up headquarters at 22 Hans Place in Knights bridge and reside there until conclusion of the Treaty in December |
| 1921 | Treaty Anglo Irish | |
| 22nd Aug Cork Collins crushes opposition to the Free State Treaty in Dublin & is ambushed in Cork |
| Dec Dublin Most of the Irish Republican Army oppose the Treaty, opening the prospect of civil war |
| Dec Dublin The Treaty is controversial, amon de Valera, President of the Irish Republic is unhappy that Collins had signed any deal without his and his cabinet's authorisation |
| 6th Dec London Negotiations ultimately result in the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed on 6 December 1921, which provides for a new Irish State, named the "Irish Free State" |
| 6th Dec London Republican purists regard it as a sell-out, with the replacement of the republic by dominion status within the British Empire, and an Oath of Allegiance made (it was then claimed) directly to the King |
| 6th Dec London The new Irish Free State is to be a Dominion, with a bicameral parliament, executive authority vested in the king but exercised by an Irish government elected by a lower house called Dil ireann |
| 6th Dec London The treaty provides for a possible all-Ireland state, subject to the right of a six-county region in the northeast to opt out of the Free State (which it immediately does) |
| 1922 | Assassination | |
| 7th Jan Dublin Collins orders the killing of Henry Wilson in reprisal for failing to prevent the attacks on Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland |
| 7th Jan Dublin The British forces Collins to take action against the Four Courts men, Collins borrows two 18 pounder artillery pieces from the British and bombards the Four Courts until its garrison surrenders |
| Aug Cork Collins travels to his native Cork, against the advice of his companions, despite suffering from stomach ache and depression, Collins reputedly told his comrades that "They wouldn't shoot me in my own county" |
| Aug Cork In Cork city, Collins meets neutral IRA men Sean Hegarty and Florrie O'Donoghue, with a view to contacting Anti-Treaty IRA leaders Tom Barry and Tom Hales to propose a truce |
| 22nd Aug Cork The ambush party, allegedly commanded by Liam Deasy, had mostly dispersed to a nearby pub by 8pm, when Collins and his men returned to Beal na mBlath but the remaining five ambushers open fire on the convoy |
| 1922 | Capture of Limerick | |
| 21st July Limerick Free State troops capture Waterford & Limerick from anti-treaty rebels |
| 1922 | Capture of Waterford | |
| 21st July Waterford Free State troops capture Waterford & Limerick from anti-treaty rebels |
| 1922 | Commander | |
| Dublin Appointed Commander of the Armed Forces |
| 1922 | Constitution | |
| The new Provisional Government is formed under Collins , who becomes "President of the Provisional Government" |
| 1922 | Head of State | |
| Dublin Appointed Head-of-State for Ireland, for 10 days |
| 1922 | Irish Army Council | |
| 13th July Dublin The Irish Army Council is founded under the leadership of Michael Collins |
| 1922 | Minister of Finance | |
| Appointed Minister of Finance |
| 1922 | National Army | |
| June Collins lays down responsibilities as Chairman of the Provisional Government to become Commander-in-Chief of the National Army, a formal, structured, uniformed army that formed around the nucleus of the pro-Treaty IRA. |
| 1922 | Siege of Dublin | |
| June Dublin Under Collins ' supervision, the Free State rapidly takes control of the capital |
| 1922 | Siege of Four Courts | |
| 7th Jan Dublin A group of 200 anti-Treaty IRA men occupy the Four Courts in Dublin in defiance of the Provisional government, Collins , who wanted to avoid civil war at all costs, does not attack them until June 1922, when British pressure forced his hand |
| June Dublin Leads to the Irish Civil War as fighting breaks out in Dublin between the anti-Treaty IRA and the Free State troops |
| June Dublin The British forces Collins to take action against the Four Courts men, Collins borrows two 18 pounder artillery pieces from the British and bombards the Four Courts until its garrison surrenders |
| 1922 | Siege of Munster | |
| July Munster Collins , along with Richard Mulcahy and Eoin O'Duffy decide on a series of seaborne landings into republican held areas that re-takes Munster and the west in July-August 1922 |
| 1922 | Treaty Anglo Irish | |
| 7th Jan Dublin A group of 200 anti-Treaty IRA men occupy the Four Courts in Dublin in defiance of the Provisional government, Collins , who wanted to avoid civil war at all costs, does not attack them until June 1922, when British pressure forced his hand |
| 7th Jan Dublin Sinn Fin splits over the treaty, and the Dil debates the matter bitterly for ten days until it is approved by a vote of 64 to 57 |
