Fresh light on love life of Irish independence hero Michael Collins

The love life of the IRA leader Michael Collins will be exposed to fresh scrutiny when letters about his relationship with his fiancée and the wife of a society portrait painter are auctioned. The correspondence is among 600 lots in an Irish independence sale in Dublin on April 17.

Letters and diaries from Moya Llewelyn Davies, a close friend of Collins, record her memories of the IRA commander. In a series of diary entries and letters to a friend, Mrs Llewelyn Davies - who it has been rumoured also had an affair with Collins - recalls his romantic attachments.