Collins, Thomas Joseph (1894–1972), satirist, was born 26 February 1894 in Dublin, one of six children of Anthony Joseph Collins, merchant tailor, and Alice Collins (née Beatty) of Coolock. The family subsequently lived at 13 Talbot St. and (from 1908) 15 Upper St Brigid's Rd, Drumcondra, Dublin. Educated at Rockwell College (1906–11), Thomas excelled academically, gaining first place in Ireland in the junior (1909) and sixth place in the senior intermediate examinations (1911). Entering UCD (1911) he joined the civil service (office of national education, Marlborough St.) in 1912 without taking a degree. With a reputation amongst the office staff for wit and light verse, Collins was asked in 1922 by a colleague in the office, Charles Kelly (qv), to contribute to Dublin Opinion, a humorous journal that Kelly was planning in conjunction with Arthur Booth (qv). From the first issue of March 1922, Collins, Kelly, and Booth (the editor) became the journal's main contributors. After Booth's death (1926) Collins and Kelly became joint editors and directors of the newly formed company, Dublin Opinion Ltd.
In 1934 Collins retired from the civil service to devote himself exclusively to the journal. Writing under various pseudonyms such as Paul Jones, Clement Molyneux, Lycurgus, and Epictetus, Collins contributed most of Dublin Opinion's text. Against the backdrop of the civil war Collins's humour came as a welcome relief, as did the scathing asides that often lurked beneath its comic aspect. While the occasional barbed comment showed the potential power of his arsenal, he preferred, like the journal itself, the more benign approach that hallmarked his countless stories and poems. Notable among his prodigious output was the Corkman joke, which he claimed to have invented on the basis of his civil service experience. Apart from his work for Dublin Opinion, which ranged from sarcasm to sentimentalism, assailing all from politicians to farmers to the Irish navy, he was also prolific outside the parameters of the journal. A play, Tenement Nocturne, and several poems were published by the Capuchin Annual, as was a tribute to John McCormack (qv) and a muted response to an article by ‘Ultach’ concerning partition. In association with Aindrias Mac Aogáin, CSSp. Congregatio de Sancto Spiritu (Holy Ghost priests), and with music by Éamonn Ó Gallchobhair (qv), Collins also wrote two operettas, ‘Nocturne sa Chearnóg’ and ‘Trághadh na Taoide’, the latter reflecting the Beatty family connection with the old port of Dublin. Both pieces were produced in the Gaiety Theatre in the 1940s.
After a lengthy illness he died 1 April 1972, leaving an estate of £22,786. Dublin Opinion had been sold in 1968 to Louis O'Sullivan. Collins married Mary Elizabeth (Moll) O'Sullivan (d. 9 September 1963) of the Iveragh peninsula, Co. Kerry. They lived at 26 Lansdowne Rd, Ballsbridge. They had no children.