McIver takes the figure of Betsy Gray, who participated in a 1798 rebellion against British rule and was killed alongside her brother and lover. In a conflict rooted in the Middle Ages, historical facts are often recruited to serve this side or the other, functioning as identity-forming agents and legitimizing the different claims. Gray’s persona – a Protestant by birth who fought alongside Catholics, has been increasingly fictionalized, and is being re-vindicated by both bands as their own.

Less Reading...