Change
While the Rising was a military diaster, an isolated rebellion in Ashbourne, north Co Dublin, on the same day was to change the nature of warfare against the British. A small column of Volunteers had attacked a much larger RIC forces and suceeded in forcing the group to surrender. Two Volunteers were killed compared to ten RIC members. The success of this gureilla-type warfare had not gone unnoticed by Collins and his compatriots. Open pitched battles against numerically superior forces were foolhardy - from now on Collins was to adopt this guerilla warfare and tailor it to an urban setting with deadly consequences.

Collins was undeterred from the disappointment of 1916 and steadfast in his belief that physical force was the only route to independence.