Quote Originally Posted by js207 View Post
Thir: He kept fighting - against his fellow Irishmen - even after the British and Irish governments signed a treaty and the RoI was independent.
Yes, there was a civil war, and he was on one side. The independance was not independant enought in some eyes, while it was in the eyes of others.

"England" was never in Ireland in the first place, any more than New England is in Iowa now - but they shared a government, made up of people from all constituent countries, including Collins himself for some years.
See above.

How do you view the American Civil War, in this context? Northern troops using force to subdue the government of another part of the continent, which hadn't been part of the original USA - do you regard that as an invasion as well, and the Confederate troops as legitimate freedom fighters?
If not a part of US at the time, yes, they were freedom fighters.