Michael Collier was born in the townland of Lisdornan in County Meath in the mid 1780s. From a young age he seemed to be a mischievous character, playing tricks on his neighbours in Lisdornan which was then a thriving village situated some two miles to the south west of Julianstown.
When he was a young teenager he went to work in Pilltown, just outside Drogheda for a man named Murtagh and while he was in this employment he was also involved in antics such as robbing fruit from the orchards. Back in these times this was a pretty serious crime. He then became a cartman, bringing goods between Drogheda and Dublin. During this time, he got to know others who robbed for a living. He later gave up his job as a cartman and began his career as a robber.
Many stories are told about Collier the Robber, many making him sound like Robin Hood, robbing the rich to help the poor. What truth lies in these stories is unclear, but it is clear that in his career as a highway robber he never committed the act of murder.
Collier was arrested in the end and condemned to be sent to Australia to spend in life in the penal settlements there. However, soon after he got to Australia he was released as long as he joined the British Army. He did this, and following his discharge he returned to Ireland and lived in Navan. He died while attending the Bellewstown Races in 1849.
When he was a young teenager he went to work in Pilltown, just outside Drogheda for a man named Murtagh and while he was in this employment he was also involved in antics such as robbing fruit from the orchards. Back in these times this was a pretty serious crime. He then became a cartman, bringing goods between Drogheda and Dublin. During this time, he got to know others who robbed for a living. He later gave up his job as a cartman and began his career as a robber.
Many stories are told about Collier the Robber, many making him sound like Robin Hood, robbing the rich to help the poor. What truth lies in these stories is unclear, but it is clear that in his career as a highway robber he never committed the act of murder.
Collier was arrested in the end and condemned to be sent to Australia to spend in life in the penal settlements there. However, soon after he got to Australia he was released as long as he joined the British Army. He did this, and following his discharge he returned to Ireland and lived in Navan. He died while attending the Bellewstown Races in 1849.
How a Robber was Robbed
On one occasion Collier’s friends from Dublin told him that there was a coach going from Dublin to Belfast carrying two hundred pounds. Collier set out to meet the coach at Ashbourne and on his way he met a man and he asked the man would he come with him because he had no help. The man went with him and over the course of their journey Collier came to the realisation that the man was a lunatic. Before they came to the place where they were going to rob the coach, he gave the man his instructions. “When the coach comes up jump out and catch the bridle,” he said. He did as Collier had told him. Collier jumped on the coach. The passengers had gold watches and bracelets on them and the man nearly tore the arms off the people trying to get them off. When they got the money they began to count it on the road. “That hundred pounds is yours and this is mine,” said the man. He took Collier’s blunderbuss and he said, “Hands up or I will blow your brains out!” Collier had to give him the money. He said that he would leave the blunderbuss at the gate and he was not to come up to the gate until he was gone by. When Collier came up to the gate he found the Blunderbuss but he could not find the man. He spent the rest of his life looking for the man but he never found him. This incident is not recorded in the life of Collier.
Una Murtagh from her Mother