| Béal na mBláth Béal Átha na Bláiche |
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|---|---|
| — Village — | |
| Cross commemorating where Michael Collins, leader of the Irish Army, was killed in August 1922. | |
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Béal na mBláth
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Munster |
| County | County Cork |
Béal na mBláth, officially Béal Átha na Bláiche (meaning "mouth of the ford of the buttermilk", anglicised as Bealnablath),[1] is a small village on the R585 road in County Cork, Ireland. Both Bláth or Bláiche are variations of the word bláthach,[1] meaning literally "flowery" or "floral", or in this case "buttermilk".
The area is best known as the site of the ambush and assassination of Michael Collins, Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander-in-chief of the Irish Army, on 22 August 1922, during the Irish Civil War.[2] Commemorations are held on the nearest Sunday to the anniversary of his death. A memorial cross stands at the site of the shooting on a local road 1 kilometre south of the village which was a dirt road when Collins was shot. A small white cross marks the spot where he fell.