A grand-nephew of Michael Collins has said the hat he wore when he was shot dead at Béal na Bláth should always be on display in the National Museum of Ireland.
It comes after some backlash over it not being on public display in the Kildare Street museum.
The National Museum says the cap was on display there from 1991 until 2005, as part of the 'Road to Independence' exhibition.
The 1916 exhibition was then moved to Collins Barracks.
The cap has not been on public display since then primarily because of conservation concerns, the museum said, but also "in line with best international museum practice on the display of objects with human remains."
Robert Pierse (83) is a grand-nephew of Michael Collins, and told Lunchtime Live it should always be on display.
He said he wrote to the museum a few years ago, when a lock of Collins' hair was due to be sold at auction.
"I wrote in to the museum about the hat at the time, and said that 'This should be displayed'.
"I would be anti-violence, and it represents violence and what civil war and hatred can do."
"People have to face up to that fact that it's a very violent death to a man who was serving country, as he saw it, to the best of his abilities.
"And far from saying that it should be removed, I feel it's important that these things remain on display and that they show the horror of war - civil war particularly, which is the most dreadful type of war".
"[The] reality is that this was a violent end by one Irish man on another Irish man, and that's wrong.
"And the cap signifies that".
"He was shot at the back of his head, and people have got to realise that this the reality of a civil war - and that this type of violence is all wrong".
"It is not ethical to hide reality, in my view".
Mr Pierse said he is an admirer of people like Daniel O'Connell, Gandhi and John Hume "who took the peaceful road".
The museum added that it has "noted the comments by relatives of Michael Collins" and has invited them to contact the museum directly.
