Betsy Gray

Betsy Gray (died 1798), was an Ulster-Scots Presbyterian peasant girl from outside Lisburn in Co. Antrim, [Northern Ireland]] who was killed as part of the 1798 Rebellion of the United Irishmen. She is the subject of many folk ballads and poems written since her time down to the present day.

She fought in the Battle of Ballynahinch against the Yeomanry, and was killed in retreat along with her brother and lover, having her right hand cut off before being decapitated.

She is a folk hero to all Republicans in Ulster, with both loyalists and republicans claiming her as their own, as typified by the centenary celebrations in 1898 where locals broke a monument to her sooner than let Nationalists, who travelled from Belfast, have a ceremony in her honour.[1]

Betsy Gray Cup

Today the Betsy Gray Cup is awarded by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in her memory in Ulster.

Betsy Gray in fiction

Betsy was featured in a novel which was semi-historical by Wesley Guard Lyttle, owner of a local newspaper The Down Herald.

References

  1. ↑ Bartlett/Dawson/Keough: Thomas Bartlett, Kevin Dawson, Daire Keogh, The 1798 Rebellion: An Illustrated History, Roberts Rinehart, 1998, p.172