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Today I want to tell you about a very strong and powerful woman in Irish History: Granuile - the Irish Pirate Queen.
Gráinne Ní Mháille (c. 1530 – c. 1603), also known as Granuaile or Gráinne Mhaol, known as Grace O'Malley, is an important figure in Irish Folklore, but was in fact a larger-than-life figure from 16th century Irish History. She is also known to history as the Pirate Queen of Ireland. She lived from around c. 1530 to c.1603.
Grace was the daughter of the chief of the O'Malley clan. The O'Malleys controlled most of what is now the barony of Murrisk. The O' Malleys were a great seafaring family and taxed all those who fished off their coasts. Their leader bore the ancient Irish title of The O' Malley.
As a young child Grace yearned to join her father on the sea, but her mother resisted, saying the life of a sailor was not for young ladies. When Grace cut off her long hair in protest, her amused family nicknamed her Grainne Mhaol (Grace the Bald). It is believed her father gave in and allowed her to travel with him to Spain.
In 1546, Grace married Donal O'Flaherty. She bore him three children. During this time, she also was active in clan politics and took to pirating. When her husband was killed, she took over his castle after defeating the people who killed him. Later, she married Iron Dick Burke so she could gain control of Castle Rockfleet. She divorced Iron Dick a year later but kept his castle.
This extraordinary Celtic woman commanded a fleet of 200 fighting men, and won castles by war and love.
Grace O'Malley is also known for meeting Queen Elizabth I. Richard English wrote, "Grace lost none of her fire as she aged, eventually running afoul of Queen Elizabeth’s navy. She was arrested for piracy, but petitioned the Queen for leniency in such flowing and complimentary prose that something stirred in the Queen. She summoned Grace for an audience behind closed doors, at the end of which Grace and all her men were released and given property along the coast of Ireland. Elizabeth also knighted Grace’s son, Tibbott, and he became Sir Theobold Burke in 1603."
When Grace visited the Queen, she refused to bow. "When they met at Grenwich, Grace famously refused to bow before Queen Elizabeth because she was herself a Queen, and not a subject of the Queen of England. Elizabeth apparently took to Grace, who was approximately the same age, and the two women reached sufficient agreement for Elizabeth to grant Grace's requests provided Grace's piracy against Great Britain ended."
Despite her pirating, Grace O'Malley lived to an old age. After her death, she became an Irish folk hero of almost legendary status. An upcoming musical play about her (The Pirate Queen by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and John Dempsey) debuted at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre at 29 October 2006.
Here is a video cip with some Irish Folclore music dedicated to Granuaile:
The Pirate Queen is a musical adventure celebrating the legendary Irish Chieftain Grace “Grania” O’Malley. Based on her real-life story, The Pirate Queen depicts Grania who is an Irish patriot, sailor, mother, lover and pirate.
I am embbeding here a videoclip from this great musical:
