Throughout History there have been many different executioners who were tasked with performing
the bloody job of executing condemned criminals.
Many executioners remained anonymous because of their job, for example the man who executed
King Charles I following the English Civil War still remains partially a mystery.
Also the French swordsman who struck the head off Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife
is only simply known as the Sword of Calais.
Executioners were sometimes criminals, and some such as Jack Ketch was recruited from
prison.
Jack Ketch is remembered as the blundering axeman who worked in London and is famously
remembered for making a mess of two very high profile executions.
When he tried to take the head off the Duke of Monmouth, James Scott, it took a number
of swings of the axe and Ketch at one point even allegedly gave up before he was forced
to continue.
His actions almost caused and incited a riot in the English capital, and the crowd wanted
his head on the block next.
He had to be ushered away under guard and was then even forced to write an apology for
his blundering actions.
But most executioners were men, and it was deemed a bloody job which women were not required
to perform in society.
Even since the Tudor period there have been very few female executioners who worked to
take the lives of condemned people.
But there was one who worked inside of Ireland, and who was known as Lady Betty.
Join us today as we look at the Rare Woman executioner of Ireland.
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It’s not known for certain when Elizabeth Sugrue or Liz Sugrue was born, possibly around
1740 or 1750, and she became one of the only female executioners in History.
She was married to a farmer, but following his death she was left completely poor and
money was a huge problem.
Elizabeth was evicted from her house and along with her two children she left her settlement
to go to Roscommon which is today a town.
She walked there with her children, and things were so desperate that one of her children
even died from starvation and exposure such was the long walk, leaving her only with her
eldest son accompanying her.
Her relationship was not amazing with her eldest son Padraig, and it was known that
she had a violent temper and because of this her son often tried to leave home, and Elizabeth
would beg him to stay.
After one particular argument in April 1775 he left her and enlisted either in the British
Army or emigrated to North America where he became part of the continental army.
Life was tough for Elizabeth as she became very withdrawn and began to take in lodgers
to try and raise some money, but she heard hardly anything from her son and with this
became very worried and angry.
There was a rumour that in 1789, one man who came to stay in her house as a lodger was
murdered by Elizabeth who was losing her mind.
It was claimed that she discovered he was in fact her long long son, but then Elizabeth
for this murder was arrested, convicted and then sentenced to death.
She was imprisoned inside of the Old Jail, and at the time there were many different
condemned individuals inside of the Old Jail in Roscommon. 25 people were due to be hanged,
and this included many thieves, sheep and cattle thieves and those who tore down fences
and hedges surrounding private land.
But things for Elizabeth Sugrue would take a crazy turn.
On the day of her execution, it was said that the hangman in the town could not perform
his job as he was ill and unable to perform the bloody office of hanging the condemned
people.
As mentioned, often criminals were forced to become executioners and some even managed
to escape the death penalty by being someone who would be recruited to execute some of
a town and cities most brutal criminals.
Criminals were seen as good people for this role in society.
But on the day of her own hanging, with the executioner poorly, spectacularly Elizabeth
Sugrue offered to become the executioner after three other people refused to take the job.
After this she managed to escape her own executioner, and instead of living in her house she was
given a lodging inside of Roscommon’s prison.
Whilst here its believed that Liz had a better of standard of living, earning a wage through
executing criminals, but also she had the company of other prison staff and also regular
food and meals.
Executioners such as Liz in their towns would sometimes become local celebrities and this
is what she did.
Inside the prison she went further than just executing people, as she was also involved
in the beatings of prisoners and would be known for flogging them in front of other
prisoners using her whip.
But the original hangman and executioner ended up dying from his illness and Elizabeth Sugrue
then filled the vacancy and she became Lady Betty, Roscommon’s official executioner.
She would live in the safety of the jail, and would tend to her garden and after executions
would draw images of the job she had just done with charcoal sketches of every person
she executed lining her walls.
Her standard of living had definitely improved with her new job.
She executed a number of rebels that rose up during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 against
the British Rule.
These executions were performed in public to keep the people of the Town of Roscommon
away from rebelling against British rule.
She continued to take the lives of condemned people using public hangings, and in 1802
her own death sentence was eventually commuted and this was put down to the fact she had
served the public well in her job.
It was said for her service to the safety of the public she would be relieved of her
death sentence that she was living under.
But she wasn’t the first woman to become an executioner in Ireland, as in 1782 an anonymous
Irish woman hanged two men who had been condemned for murder at Kilmainham.
The men here were also quartered and it’s not known whether this anonymous woman did
this bloody part of the execution of not.
But the Sheriff of this town received a lot of hate and abuse for recruiting a woman as
an executioner and a hangwoman.
In 1807, Lady Betty died where she was allegedly killed and murdered by a prisoner inside of
the Roscommon jail.
One account states that she was struck by a prisoner who had a rock in his hand.
This prisoner had been forced to conduct manual labour and Liz was watching over her.
Other accounts say that she died from natural causes or old age.
But the story of Lady Betty, Irelands female executioner is an interesting one and she’s
well known inside of Ireland for her job as a hangwoman.
It was a rarity throughout the centuries for women to fill this bloody job and to be the
ones who took the lives of prisoners who had been sentenced to death.
But by becoming an executioner, Lady Betty who was herself a murderer had managed to
escape the hangman’s noose, and instead became the one who would tie the knot around
the necks of the prisoners.
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