Posted on 03/17/2012 12:32:47 AM PDT by Kevmo
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The story of Gráinne Ni Mháille or Granuaile (Anglicized as Grace O'Malley, Grany Malley) reads like the most brazen and unlikely sort of adventure fiction, but there's history as well as myth in the legend of the Irish noblewoman who led a band of 200 sea-raiders from the coast of Galway in the sixteenth century. Twice widowed, twice imprisoned, fighting her enemies both Irish and English for her rights, condemned for piracy, and finally pardoned in London by Queen Elizabeth herself, Gráinne was one of the few sea-raiders to retire from the sea and die in her own bed, though where she's buried remains a mystery.
Gráinne's exploits were many and attested, and there can be no doubt that she made a deep impression on the Englishmen sent to complete the conquest of Connacht. From her appearance in 1576 before the Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sidney in Galway, when he described her as a 'most famous feminine sea captain' and 'a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland', to her interview with Queen Elizabeth in London in 1593, when she secured the release of her son and her brother from prison, and promises of maintenance for herself for the remainder of her life, she proved herself ready to face all dangers in her determination to salvage some part of her family's inheritance.
- Gráinne Ni Mhaille or Gráinne Uaile
The Sea-Queen of Ireland
Grace O'Malley, a brief biography by Rosemarie Colombraro at Renaissance-Central. New !
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Granuaile, a history with map and illustrations, at Defiant Women's Pirates page.
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Gráinne Ni Mhaille or Gráinne Uaile, part of the history of Westport, County Mayo.
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Mystery surrounds burial place of legendary pirate queen Gráinne Uaile, an article from Western People, August 1997. New URL.
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About Granuaile, history links from the Unofficial O'Malley Website.
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Gráinne Ní Mháille Pirate Queen of Connaught.
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Grace O' Malley - The Official Site, from biographer Anne Chambers. New !
Further Reading
Granuaile: The Life and Times of Grace O'Malley by Anne Chambers has just been issued in a revised edition by Wolfhound Press (ISBN: 0863276318).
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The Twilight Lords, an Irish Chronicle, by Richard Berleth, Knopf, 1978; reprinted Barnes and Noble, 1994, details the warfare and treachery that characterize Ireland in Elizabethan times.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_o%27malley
Excerpts from Wikipedia:
Legendary exploits
Many folk stories and legends about Ní Mháille have survived since her actual days of pirating and trading. There are also traditional songs and poems about her.
A widespread legend concerns an incident at Howth, which apparently occurred in 1576. During a trip from Dublin, Ní Mháille attempted to pay a courtesy visit to Howth Castle, home of Christopher St Lawrence, 8th Baron Howth (d. 1589) However, she was informed that the family was at dinner and the castle gates were closed against her. In retaliation, she abducted the Earl's grandson and heir, the 10th Baron. He was eventually released when a promise was given to keep the gates open to unexpected visitors, and to set an extra place at every meal. Lord Howth gave Ní Mháille a ring as pledge on the agreement. The ring remains in the possession of a descendant of Gráinne Ní Mháille, and at Howth Castle today, this agreement is still honoured by the Gaisford St. Lawrence family, descendants of the Baron.[28] (Commemorating these events, there is in Howth a street of 1950s local authority housing named 'Grace O'Malley Road'.)
The legendary reason for Ní Mháille's seizure of Doona Castle in Ballycroy was because the MacMahons, who owned the castle, killed her lover, Hugh de Lacy, the shipwrecked son of a Wexford merchant Ní Mháille had rescued. When the guilty members of the MacMahon clan landed on the holy island of Caher for a pilgrimage, Ní Mháille captured their boats. She and her men then captured the MacMahons and killed those responsible for her lover's death. Still not satisfied with her revenge, Ní Mháille then sailed for Ballycroy and attacked the garrison at Doona Castle, overpowering the defenders and taking the castle for herself.[19]
Her attack against the MacMahons was not the first time she interrupted someone at their prayers. Legend tells of another chieftain who stole property from Ní Mháille and fled to a church for sanctuary. Ní Mháille was determined to wait out the thief, maintaining that he could starve or surrender. The thief dug a tunnel and escaped, however, and the hermit who took care of the church broke his vow of silence to scold her for attempting to harm someone who had sought sanctuary. Gráinne's reply is not included in the legend.[29]
[edit] Revolutionary activity
In 1593, in his letter to protesting Gráinne Ní Mháille's claims against him, Richard Bingham claimed that Ní Mháille was "nurse to all rebellions in the province for this forty years".[26][30] Bingham was Lord President of Connacht, with the task of increasing control over the local lords that had been effectively self-governing.
Ní Mháille had every reason, and used every opportunity, to limit the power of the Kingdom of Ireland over her part of the country. Her castle at Clare Island was attacked by an expedition from Galway led by Sheriff William Óge Martyn in March 1579. However, they were put to flight and barely escaped.
[edit] Meeting with Elizabeth
Well, may the Grace of God be always with your Grace.
As for
I look forward to the day when Hollywood picks up on this story of a female pirate who commanded respect from men in her age.
Don’t wish too hard on that one, FRiend, as the Grace O’Malley those perverts would present would likely not be the one you are imagining.
I visited Grace O’Malley’s island when I was in Ireland. You can actually wade to get to it during low tide.
Dang, I’m jealous.
Well said, Big Red.
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