Roscommon Betty

Roscommon- from the Irish word 'Ros' meaning a gentle terrain with plenty of trees and 'Conman', the name of the county's famous Irish saint and first bishop. The selection of the word Roscommon for our part of the world in northern Michigan was a good choice. The similarities between Roscommon County, Michigan and County Roscommon, Ireland are striking. The character of the Irish county is rural, it is located in the center of the island with the ocean approximately equidistant to the north, east, south and west just as our Great Lakes surround us. The Irish Roscommon has had its share of characters just as notorious as those from Roscommon Michigan. Although neither lumberjacks nor Indians roamed the high plains of Ireland, Roscommon peasants were just as colorful as if they stepped from the pages of Robin Hood. Perhaps the most notorious person to inhabit the town of Roscommon in County Roscommon, Ireland was Roscommon Betty, the Hangman of Roscommon. Lady Betty, as she was later called, came to this life in 1750 as the daughter of a poor tenant farmer in the south of Ireland. She was soon married to another tenant farmer and three children were born in rapid succession. Alas, her poor husband died unexpectedly leaving Betty and her three children destitute. Betty decided to leave her rural home and head for Roscommon in search of a better life. The walk was long and hard, two of the three children starved before reaching Roscommon, leaving only Betty and her oldest son. Things weren’t much better in Roscommon for Betty. She moved into an abandoned hovel and begged, borrowed or stole to survive. Some said she prostituted herself to eke out a living on the edge of town. After a few years of grinding poverty, her only son left for America in search of a better life and was soon forgotten. Betty managed to survive by taking in travelers who were willing to spend a few pennies for shelter. The word spread and Lady Betty settled into life operating the poorest of lodgings and earning only a tiny income. Even with her desperate need for money, Betty sometimes drove away her customers with her violent temper and cruelty. One night, against all odds, an apparently wealthy traveler stopped by her abode and enquired about lodging for the night. Based on his clothing and behavior, he was clearly a wealthy man who had somehow stumbled into the wrong place. The temptation overcame Betty; she waited until he was asleep, then crept into his room and stabbed him repeatedly until he was dead. She greedily tore into his belongings in search of his wealth only to discover his identity – her own son had returned. Betty’s evil deed was soon found out, she was arrested and sentenced to be hanged. The court decided on a public execution for Betty. She was to be hanged along with a large group of other criminals: murderers, thieves and several ‘Whiteboys’. The Whiteboys were a problem; these men were part of a secret society of tenant farmers who raided the farms of wealthy landlords and stole from them. The problem was that the public condoned the activities of Whiteboys since the wealthy landlords were believed the cause of much public misery with their niggardly practices involving wages and working conditions. The result was that no one, not even the Sheriff, could be found who was willing to hang the Whiteboys. Betty rose to the occasion. She told the Sheriff, “set me free and I’ll hang the lot of them.” Betty and the authorities came to an agreement; she killed 25 men that day. Afterwards, Provincial officals assigned the task of performing all the executions for the Province of Connaught to Betty. For her protection, the authorities gave her a room in jail and brought her food to her. Betty seemed to enjoy her work as it sated the cruel streak that was part of her character. She favored public executions; she had a scaffold built just outside the window of her room and she required the already-noosed men to crawl to the scaffold on a plank from her window. Once there, Betty was delighted to pull the handle that sent the condemned men to their deaths. Betty’s fame as public executioner spread around the land when she routinely left the dead swinging in place while she leisurely sketched their likeness on the walls of her room. By 1802, Betty had executed hundreds and the authorities gave her a pardon for her own crime in consequence of her long service. She seemed unmoved by the pardon; she was content to live in the jail and continue her grisly occupation. She died in 1807 and the authorities decided to bury her inside the walls of the Roscommon jail. Her fame continues to this day as Roscommon parents routinely warn their children to behave “or Roscommon Betty will get you.”