Betsy Gray – forgotten hero of 1798

Whenever there is mention of the rebellion of 1798, people tend to think of Wexford, Vinegar Hill, Boulavogue and Father Murphy.
While the Leinster rebellion was the main part of 1798, there were also risings in Antrim and Down. In Wexford, the rebels were, in the main, Catholic, those in Antrim and Down were Anglican and mostly Presbyterian. It is worth remembering that the Penal Laws applied equally to Catholic and Presbyterian.
Henry Joy McCracken led the rebellion in Antrim. Born into a prominent Belfast family – his grandfather started the Belfast Newsletter newspaper – he was more interested in politics and was a founder member of the United Irishmen. He led the attack on Antrim town. When they were defeated he tried to escape to America but was captured and hanged.
In Down, the rising was equally short-lived. Their leader, Rev William Dickson, was arrested and succeeded by Henry Munro. They were successful at a small skirmish at Saintfield and then Munro led them to Ballinahinch. They were faced by a British force led by General Nugent. Fierce fighting took place around the town. However, the British forces had brought the wrong size of cannon balls for their guns and were on the verge of retreating. Their buglers sounded retreat. The rebels misunderstood the bugle call and thought it signalled the arrival of reinforcements. They panicked and fled. The army quickly realised what was happening and chased the rebels. Many were killed in the flight. Among those was a forgotten hero of 1798, Betsy Gray.
Betsy had gone into battle with her brother and lover. As they fled the battle scene all three were killed by Yeomen. It is said that Betsy had her right hand cut off, was shot and then decapitated.
The story of Betsy is a mirror of how times changed in the country in the following years. As the years passed, the descendents of many of those rebels  became part of the establishment and towards the end of the 19th century dreaded the prospects of Home Rule. To them and many loyalists, Betsy was a brave young Presbyterian local girl who did what was right at the time but for them the political agenda had changed utterly. To supporters of Home Rule she was a hero of ’98. However, things came to a head with the centenary of the rebellion in 1898. 
A memorial was erected in her memory. It was decided the memorial was to be the venue for a centenary rally. It was a largely loyalist area and locals were outraged when a large group of Home Rulers arrived for the rally. The RIC had to separate the two groups. Proceedings only ended when local Orangemen destroyed Betsy’s memorial and the Home Rulers were chased from the area.
Her name is still remembered today, with the Betsy Gray Cup awarded by the Down County Board of the GAA each year for a competition between the intermediate and junior hurling teams in the county.
The final episode of the United Irishmen Rebellion in Ulster, the Battle of Ballinahinch, where both sides actually started to retreat at the same time and after which Betsy Gray was cruelly killed, took place on June 13 798 – 213 years ago this week.