A Chaide: A special thanks to IH Aideen for bringing Lady Betty to my attention. And what perfect timing for Samhain. George Lady Betty From 1780 to about 1810, the executioner at Roscommon Jail was a cold-blooded, brutal woman. Originally from Kerry, "Lady Betty" and her story have become the stuff of legend in Roscommon and the surrounding area. Her rise to infamy is the stuff Hollywood scripts are made of (back off Spielberg, I have the rights!). She was one of the most bloodthirsty and feared women in all of Irish history (even more than Mary Harney? - ed.). She moved up from Kerry to Roscommon for reasons best known to herself in the late 18th century, and lived in total poverty on the West side of the county. A single mother with a young son, she was (very unusually for the times) literate, and taught her child to read and write. She also taught him that nothing matters in the world but money. When he was old enough, this well educated urchin headed to America to seek his fortune. One night, a few years later, there was a knock on Betty's door, and a well dressed gentleman stood framed against the western weather. He asked for shelter, and, as was traditional, Betty invited him in. Here, there are two versions of the story. One says that she had been systematically butchering guests for years and taking their belongings. The other says that this was her first time performing the grisly deed. Regardless, the tall stranger was soon dispatched, and it was only when leafing through his documents that Betty discovered she had killed her own son, which naturally didn't go down too well. Betty fled in hysterics, and was soon picked up by the local constable. As a murderer, she was tranported to the prison at Roscommon town (now a shopping centre, of all things!) to be hanged. There aren't too many differences in the concept of bureacracy then and now; it got itself tied up in knots as it still tends to (I think civil servants have to take a course in fouling things up horrendously before they're allowed into the job), and there was no hangman avilable to deal with Betty and her fellow homicidal maniacs on the appointed day. As the sherrif himself was preparing to attend to the gruesome task, Betty stepped forward, looked him in the eye, and said "let me free and I'll hang them all!" The rest is, as they say, history. For the best part of the next two decades, Lady Betty as she came to be known, was chief executioner at Roscommon Jail. She lived rent free in a third floor chamber at the prison, and although she was paid no salary she loved her work and never had to worry about food. She had a very public method of haging too; a scaffold was erected right outside her window, and the unfortunate hangee had to crawl out, ready- noosed, and stand there as she pulled a lever, swinging him to kingdom come. She had a nasty habit of leaving the bodies placidly "do the pendulum thing" while she sketched them in charcoal. When she eventually died, in the first decade of the 19th century, her room was decorated with the images of the hundreds of people she had happily sent to their deaths. Thanks to the Irish Heritage Newsletter. -- Pat Connors, currently visiting Sharon Springs, NY http://www.connorsgenealogy.com