THE LIFE OF GRAINNE O’MALLEY – THE IRISH PIRATE QUEEN

Beginning a week of posts of pirates and shanties and of those who made their living on the ocean spanning centuries right up to the present day. We begin with the story of Ireland’s pirate queen Grainne Ni Mhaille.

Legend tells us that when Grace O’Malley, the Irish Pirate Queen of Connaught and Queen Elizabeth of England met at Greenwich Palace in September of 1593, the fate of Anglo-Irish relations could have been determined by the exchange of a mere handkerchief… You see, supposedly when the Tudor queen offered Grace a handkerchief, Grace was disturbed by the custom of using a dirty cloth so to demonstrate the Irish standard of cleanliness, Grace threw it in the fire. The few who witnessed this waited with bated breath to see how the Queen of England would react. To everyone’s relief, Elizabeth laughed! While no one knows quite for certain what passed between these women, what we know of Grace’s boldness and Queen Elizabeth’s humour suggests the story could have been very well true.

(The Bible Code Sundays from London)

Grainne Ni Mhaille was born around 1530 into the seafaring O’Malley clan. The O’Malley’s clan territory spanned from Connemara in County Galway to Westport in County Mayo ruling the southern shore of Clew Bay, Achill Island and most of the barony of Murrisk for over 300 years. Ruthless pirates they terrorised the areas trading ships, taxing all who fished off their coasts. Grainne / Grace was an only child and as a child convinced her father Dubhdarra to take her aboard his ships and teach her sailing, navigation and fishing. She became a natural at sea. A skill that would blossom into a legendary career. On board ship was hard work; the salt spray matting Grace’s hair so she cut it short earning her the nickname of Granuaile, or ‘Bald Grace’.

(Miracle Of Sound from Dublin, Ireland)

At the age of 16, Grace was married to Donal O’Flaherty, more commonly known as ‘Donal o’the Battles’ for his reputation for violence. The marriage was arranged with the hope that it would bring peace between the clans of O’Malley and O’Flaherty. Grace, being much younger, was an equal match for him in temperament and because of her experience at sea, she was the leader of the O’Flaherty clan fleet by her early twenties. As captain of the fleet she led pirate raids and attacks on rival clans and established trade routes to Scotland, Portugal and Spain, often travelling to these places herself. She had three children but sometime in the 1560’s, Donal was killed in a clan feud between the O’Flaherty and Joyce’s. Now a widow, Grace  moved to Clare Island and ran the O’Flaherty fleet from there, also taking on some O’Malley clan ships as well. Her reputation was growing. In 1566, Grace married again to Richard. His family Burke owned the land North of Clew Bay, a strategic spot for seafarers and with her fleet, her empire would become unstoppable.

(The Dreadnoughts from Vancouver, Canada)

The ancient Brehon law of Ireland, which was over a century and a half old at the time dictated a woman could fight in battle alongside men, keep her name, property and title and also gave a woman the ability to divorce her husband by simply declaring, “I divorce you”! Grace set up her new seafaring base in her husband’s impressively fortified and strategically placed Rockfleet Castle. They would have one child, a son called Tibbot-na-long. Legend states he was born below deck while Grace and her crew were engaged in battle with Turkish Pirates. After a year and a day together, Grace used Brehon law to divorce Richard by leaning out the window of the castle and calling down to him, saying “Richard, I dismiss you!” As she was in possession of the castle at the time, it became hers under Brehon law and would be her home for the remainder of her life. They would remain allies and thought to have still been romantically involved.

(The Rumpled from Trento, Italy)

Queen Elizabeth I had dreams of an expanded empire and oversaw expansion into the New World, but the rebellions in occupied Ireland were a constant threat and the Queen became fixated on the Western coast of Ireland. Eager to acquire Irish resources for the Crown she expected the Irish chieftains to be obliging to the English presence in Ireland. Grace, one of many unwilling to comply, was besieged by Crown forces in Cock’s Castle, ever resourceful Grace escaped, lighting beacons to alert her allies who then drove the English back. After this close call with the English, Grace retreated to Clew Bay. Looking for vengeance, she gathered her supporters, and launched a series of raids on not only English ships, but the ships of the Irish traitors who had allied with the oppressors. Grace aggravated the English with her defiance, but also made enemies out of those whose merchant ships she had plundered. In 1574, several Galway merchants joined with the English to attack Grace again this time in Rockfleet. Though better trained and outnumbering the Irish forces, Grace seized the initiative, taking her attackers by surprise and driving them back. By 1576, reinforcements had arrived in Ireland and Sir Henry Sidney arrived in Connaught. He sought the absolute submission of the local chieftains, including Grace. Grace took an audience with Sidney and having realised how outnumbered she now was offered Sidney a deal: 3 of her best ships and 200 men. Grace continued to plunder up and down the coast but just a year after this meeting Grace was captured while she was attacking the Earl of Desmond’s lands. The previously rebellious earl had switched sides and was thrown in Limerick Jail first, and then later to the Dublin Castles dungeons for eighteen months. Grace was brought before the Lord Justice had called her

“a woman that hath impudently passed the part of womanhood and been a great spoiler and chief commander and director of thieves and murderers at sea to spoil the province. Her stoutness of courage and person, and for sundry exploits done by her at sea.”

Grace though was released and she returned to Connaught but tragedy struck as Richard soon passed away. Richard’s people though now accepted her as their leader and Grace ruled from Rockfleet Castle.

(Kinnia from Madrid, Spain)

Now fifty-three, things got worse for Grace, with the appearance of a new despotic Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Richard Bingham, who was not interested in a working relationship with Grace making it his sole mission to not only suppress but destroy the woman he called a 

“nurse to all rebellions in the province for this forty years” 

For the next ten years, Bingham chased Grace and her men up and down the coast line, impounding her ships, and confiscating her property. All very frustrating but nothing she couldn’t handle. Bingham obsessed over Grace and with Graces power and popularity now having pushed the Crown’s limit for over 20 years Bingham could not allow himself to look foolish. Tragedy though struck again when her son Murrough joined forces with the English. Grace would never speak to her son again for his treachery and then in 1586 her eldest child, Owen, was killed by Crown forces, in cooperation with the same clan who had killed his father, the Joyces. Grace was devastated and out for revenge.

(T.C. Costello from South Carolina, USA)

The Irish suffered tremendously under Bingham’s oppression and Irish clan leaders had had enough. Grace joined The O’Donnell and The O’Neill in Ulster planning a rebellion against the English authorities. Grace swallowed her pride and appealed direct to Queen Elizabeth I writing she had been forced her “to take arms and by force to maintain [herself and her people] by sea and by land’, asking for ‘reasonable maintenance’ for the time that she had left to live, including her confiscated property. In turn she promised to ‘invade with sword and fire all you highness enemies, wheresoever they are or shall be’. While negotiations continued her youngest son, Tibbot, was arrested on charges of inciting rebellion. Unable to bear the thought of losing yet another child Grace took drastic action boarding her ship and setting sail for England. Grace sailed boldly sailed right up the Thames estuary into London!

A 1793 drawing of the meeting in 1593.

She requested an audience with the Queen of England and this was granted at Greenwich in September of 1593. The two woman could not have been more different. Queen Elizabeth dressed in jewel-encrusted clothing and heavy makeup, while Grace, in contrast, wore the looser-fitting clothing of the Irish, with a sash and heavy, Celtic brooch. Despite differences in appearance, they about the same age and must have seen a bit of themselves in one another as they conversed in Latin. Grace refused to bow because she was herself a Queen, and being Irish, not a subject of the Queen of England. Their discussion was carried out in Latin, as Grace spoke no English and Elizabeth spoke no Irish. After the discussion, the Queen granted the Irish Pirate Queen of Connaught most of what she had asked for. Her son and half brother were with the Queen herself writing to Bingham, demanding he release Grace’s relatives and restore her confiscated property and not to bother her. Under the protection of the Queen, Grace’s career revived. Bingham though attempted to thwart her in other ways, and now in her old age, Grace responded by burning the town entrusted to Bingham, Bunowen in Donegal, to the ground. In 1595 when a conspiracy against Bingham was revealed he fled back to England where, upset by his repeated failures, he was imprisoned. From 1597 to 1601 The O’Donnell and The O’Neill led rebellions across Ireland against the English invaders. Grace had withdrawn her support after a personal conflict with The O’Donnell and was not involved in the uprising. By 1601, the rebels were suppressed but ever the diplomat Grace remained politically active till her death living to see a bitter time for herself and Ireland. Her son, Tibbot, joined the English army enjoying a successful career, eventually becoming made a baronet.  The Flight Of Earls in 1607 saw the remaining clan leaders leave Ireland to seek support from the French and Spanish, many never to return and die in exile. The Irish clans were replaced by the English and Anglo-Irish aristocracy. 

(Five Pint Mary from Oregon, USA)

Extremely capable leaders feared by their enemies and inspiring fierce devotion from their own people. Grace and Queen Elizabeth I died the same year, in 1603. Granuaile lived to an old age, despite her life full of adventures, dying of natural causes at Rockfleet Castle and was 72 or 73 at the time of her passing. Grace’s exact burial location is disputed but thought to be a thirteenth century abbey, built by the O’Malley’s off the coast of Galway, as her final resting place. The epitaph dedicated to her inside the Clare Island Abbey reads, Terra Marique Potens O’Maille – O’Malley: Strong On Land And Sea.

A statue of Grace O’Malley in the grounds of Westport House in Mayo crafted by her direct descendants.

the Grace O’Malley Web Site

Come back again on Wednesday for a Classic Album Series feature and on Sunday for the review of a brand new album from a band with salt water running through their veins!

POST-EDIT
As is our way we missed an absolutely stunning video from Czech band FIVE LEAF CLOVER. Be sure to check them out. They are every bit as good as this video is.