Gay Michael Collins claim in new book is dismissed by family

Senator David Norris allegation based on no evidence they say

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IRA hero Michael Collins

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“He had fought in the Civil War more than half a century before and claimed to have been one of Michael Collins’s principal boyfriends.

Norris adds: “I mentioned this to a well-known popular historian of the period, who confirmed that this was generally known in certain republican circles.”

Grand-niece Owen however has confirmed that she had a number of first cousins called Michael Collins but said: “I don’t know what grand-nephew that is that Mr Norris is referring to. I know nothing about that conversation so I can’t confirm it or deny it.

“I am bemused by Mr Norris’s claim, I don’t know how much David Norris was able to check it out.”

She did admit that contemporary accounts of Collins wrestling male friends to the ground – horseplay as she put it - may have contributed to rumours that he was gay.

But she also pointed out to the Irish Independent that there was evidence that he was popular with women . She said: “He was engaged and had a girlfriend.”

The Sunday Times newspaper reports that a number of high-profile historians have also dismissed the Norris claim.

UCD professor of modern history Diarmuid Ferriter suggested: “It is wishful thinking on David’s part.

 “I’ve never seen any kind of proof that Collins was ever sexually active. I believe he died a virgin.”

Collins’s biographer Tim Pat Coogan said: “I found in the course of my research that the IRA commander was aggressively heterosexual and that he had several more women friends than people realised.”

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