Heroine of the 1798 Rebellion: Betsy Gray, the Irish rebel girl fought and fell

So Woundedleg ,by you responding so dramatically to a question posed to pilib02, makes me believe that pillib02 is another one of your poster aliases as well as George Dillon.You are really stressed out dude when you post under so many different names, for the sake of bolstering support for your own fanatical fascist views.By the way,the only people that take your view of Irish history seriously, is yourself, George, so much for" your" history credentials.

Will Hamilton- It seems every Irish rebellion was a fiasco.

Eleven posters and no mention of Scullnabogue

"During the battle the Irish mistook the opposition signal for retreat for their own"....yet another Irish rebellion fiasco...just goes to show how deluded the phrase "the luck of the Irish" really is.

Betsy was one of ours and she didn't fall in the green fields of Ballynahinch (check the meaning of the town) Check also her final resting place and why there is no substantial marker. If we cannot agree on the identidy of our dead then what may we agree on.

Warren'pint, you are as ignorant of irish history as you are of every other topic you offer your nonsense on.

PIilib04, what qualifies you as an Irish historian an 1798?.As one opposed to the writer of this article where are your credentials.May,be you are the one that is reading too many of all the wrong history books all along.Many historians have written books on the subject of Irish history and most of them disagree with each other,s accounts of that same history.Who is right and who is wrong, the answer usually remains in the mind of the beholder,and depending on who they are and where they come from will be the reason why, that they portray their own flawed selfish political interpretation of that history. May,be it is time you updated your library pilib04 ,instead of attacking a staff writer re writing published accounts of some self styled historian.

Slainte - I am totally sympathetic but at this point I think we have been Magdalene Laundried to death!

slainte9 your article is puerile(both of them)The united Irishmen incuded all those freedom loving Irish men and women regardless of their religion.

"The United Irishmen had been founded in 1791 as sectarian organization". Are you mad? Their slogan was to unite Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter. Sloppy hoistory

I'm not sure this deserves all the criticism it has received. It is light weight as history. The United Irishmen were non-sectarian, however, so that is an important error that should have been caught in editing if it is a typo.

What qualifies Michelle K. Smith as a writer of Irish History and in particular a writer about the 1798 Rising? What are her credentials PLEASE? What courses has she taken in 18th century Irish History? Does she have a University degree in Irish History? The reason I ask is because her article is FRAUGHT with error and innuendo. This incompetent suggests that the rising in Wexford and in Connacht (Connaught, english) did not take place. According to her shallow ignorant history of the 1798, there was no Republic of Connacht. I do not downplay the valour of those involved in the Presbyterian (United Irishmen) rising in east Ulster, and the participation of Betsy Gray, but they achieved no significant battle victories that I am aware of. In Leinster and Connacht there were battle victories and Mayo and Wexford came under control of the rebels. There were victories at Oulart, Inniscorthy and Wexford town in Wexford that led to consolidating control over County Wexford. The French/Rebel victory at Castlebar led to the consolidation of control in Mayo. The Year of the French cannot be reduced to an asterisk! In point of FACT, the rising in Meath, Dublin Wicklow, Carlow and most importantly Wexford, lasted longer and was more effective than the rising in eastern Ulster (Down and Antrim). In point of FACT, Wexford was actually liberated from foreign control! The same can be said for the rising in Connacht. Sadly it can't be said of the rising in east Ulster. Ms. Smith simply is quite ignorant of the 1798 rising and has no business pretending she knows. It is a nice child's fiction, but has no business at Irish Central. Had she bothered to fact check her info on the 1798 rising she would have easily found her ERRORS.

Gandhi and O'Connell should be celebrated here, not violence.

Turning a girl into a killer or someone who gets killed is celebrated, while the Magdelene laundry isn't. You people hava an odd set of values.