William "Staker" Wallace
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William Wallace, was a Irish Freedom Fighter, born in 1733 at Tiermore, in County Limerick, Ireland near the town of Kilfinane.
Wallace was involved in the disturbances leading up to the 1798 rebellion in Ireland, and was hung as a local captain of the United Irishmen. He was beheaded and the head placed upon a stake, and from that time forward was called "Staker" Wallace.
Wallace led an outfit called the White Boys. They dressed up in sheets at night and rooted up the hedges the landlords enclosed the commonage with as the peasants were already in a desperate plight.
There is a traditional Irish ballad based on William Wallace, called "The death of Staker Wallace" of which only the melody is known, few of the lyrics survive. It is an air traditionally associated with the uilleann pipes.
