Achoimre
Beezie Gallagher was, for over sixty years, the sole resident of an island on Lough Gill, County Sligo. Born in the 1870s and orphaned in her teens, Beezie's wisdom, robust humour and fierce independence gained her a reputation as a healer, wise woman and witch.
This play tells of her youth, her friendship with the young W.B. Yeats (he wrote of her in his poem "The Lonely One"), and her brief marriage in middle life. She relives the crisis of her old age, when the Great Freeze of 1947 left her marooned and starving. The joy of her rescue turns to tragedy as she is consigned to the County Home. There, authority in the shape of a flinty Reverend Mother attempts to relieve her of her pension book and her cherished freedom. Beezie's campaign of resistance is moving and hilarious, her escape by night a triumph of ingenuity and resilience. Twelve months later, Beezie died alone on her beloved Island.