Women's History Month, Day Seven

Grace O’Malley

(Grace O’Malley statue in Westport House from https://vagabondtoursofireland.com/grace-omalley-the-pirate-queen/)

            Grace O’Malley is the famous and fierce Irish female pirate, who could be a more appropriate woman to talk about on St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish holiday. She was well known for her sea faring abilities and her courage against hardships. She was more than willing to fight for her family and her rights. She plundered and she made her own path and she fought fire with fire when it came to her enemies. It’s no wonder Elizabeth I, was impressed by her.

Biography:

            Grace O’Malley or Gráinne Ní Mhaille the famous female pirate was born in 1530 into the Irish Chieftain of the O’Malley’s of Murrisk (National Archives). Her father was Owen O’Malley, a sea trader, and when he died she would inherit his ships and business as she was his only child. From her mother, Margaret O’Malley, she also inherited lands which gave her more power and wealth. The O’Malley’s were a seafaring clan which means that Grace would have been taught the ways of seafaring as a child. Grace was probably well educated like other Irish noblewomen, and certainly she would have been taught her father’s business. The O’Malley’s spent their summers at Clare Island, which Grace would later use as a stronghold (National Archives). She also used Rockfleet or Carrickahowley in Clew Bay as well which helped her to easily control the waters by stopping ships in order to allow safe passage in exchange for goods or to plunder them.  Ireland was at this point different clans which were at constant odds with each other, Grace leading some fighting herself, but as the Tudor’s got more powerful in England things began to change (Grace O Malley…).

She married two clansmen, Donal O’Flaherty and after him Richard Burke. She married Donal O’Flaherty, the heir to the O’Flaherty lands, in 1546 and the couple had a daughter and two sons. Grace’s dowry, according to Gaelic law however, was to be returned to her intact should the marriage be dissolved (Murray). She also remained in control of the property, men, goods, and ships that she brought into her marriage. Grace may have also taken over control of O’Flaherty’s holdings and men due to his temper and lack of forethought (Murray). During the year of 1564 O’Flaherty was killed in a disagreement for lands with the Joyces and Grace is reported to have had withstood a raid on Cock’s Castle which was later changed to Hen’s Castle for her (Murray). With her first husband dead and Grace  unable to claim his land she returned back to Clare Island, it was here with her small fleet that Grace began her piracy.

            She was married to Richard Burke in 1567 and through her new husband they gained lands in Clew Bay. Grace would soon fall pregnant but this would not stop her pirate ways. In 1567 after the birth of her third son, Theobald, on the ship during her return from a trading mission they were attacked by the Turkish, despite having just given birth she still fought and rallied her men “by firing a blunderbuss at the Turkish assailants and crying ‘take this load from unconsecrated hands (National Archives)!’” Her actions turned the tide of the battle. The couple’s relationship is a bit of a mystery with mixed sources. According to one tale from the time they were only married for one year and that when the year ended “Richard is reputed to have returned to Carraigahowley to find his clothes packed, doors locked and his wife dismissing him from the battlements (Murray).” Against this, other sources claim that the two continued to be seen as husband and wife until Richard died, she continued to live at Carraigahowley instead of moving back home and when he was knighted she was styled “Lady Burke” and still attended official events with him. Perhaps due to the couple’s strong personalities they simply just had a relationship where they fought and made up often.

            In March of 1574, the English laid siege to Rockfleet Castle but in only two weeks the tide had turned and Grace forced the English to retreat (Grace O Malley…). Grace eventually lent “her services of her galleys and men” to Elizabeth I in 1577, despite her initial misgivings (National Archives).  Henry Sidney, who was the Lord Deputy of Ireland, would write of this fierce woman to Francis Walsingham in 1583:

“There came to me also a famous feminine sea captain called Grany Imallye and offered her services unto me, wheresoever I would command her with three galleys and 200 fighting men either to Scotland or Ireland….this was a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland (National Archives).”

She also successfully charged Sidney for some of her services to the crown, though she also kept up her plundering. During the year of 1582, Richard and Grace moved to Lough Mask Castle and he died in April of 1583. She gathered her inheritance and moved back to Carraigahowley, she was now a wealthy and free widow.

The alliance with the Crown ended up costing her when the English tightened their grip on her lands and took her livestock and ships away from her. She also made enemies with Richard Bingham, who began to cause trouble in Ireland over titles and lands which caused Grace and her family to rise in rebellion. Bingham went after Grace’s son Owen and his lands, who Grace claimed “offered hospitality, and in return had been ‘fast bound . . . [and] cruelly murdered having twelve deadly wounds (Murray).’” Bingham claimed he was a fugitive and had been killed when he tried to run. The death of her son sent Grace into a rage and she went into full rebellion against Bingham who arrested her in 1586, at the age of 56, during which time she claims he “caused a new pair of gallows to be made for her last funerall wher shy thought to end her daies (National Archives).” It was only from the help of Richard Burke, her son-in-law, that she was freed. She was given some relief from Bingham when he was sent away in 1587 and her family were pardoned for their crimes but when the Spanish Armada came for England in 1588, Bingham returned. He went after Grace and her family again which caused such chaos in Ireland that Elizabeth I had to step in and send in men to make peace although the two continued to have a rocky relationship especially when she discovered her son had taken his side (Murray).

Her poverty and her  relationship with Bingham was to the point that in July of 1593 she petitioned to Elizabeth I.  This petition pleaded for help to save her from poverty and begged for the ability “to attack ‘the Queen’s enemies’ for her maintenance (National Archives).” The Queen responded to this by sending Grace “18 interrogatories (questions) to determine her family background, connections and the circumstances of her maintenance during her lifetime (National Archives).” Grace answered and gave her account of her life story and claimed that piracy was her only way of surviving. She gave her accounts of how her son was murdered and how Bingham had caused her reaction and rebellions. When her son Theobald was thrown in jail, she decided to go to London herself to speak to Elizabeth. Grace met the Queen of England at Greenwich Palace in September of 1593. The two women surely sized each other up but by the end of their meeting Elizabeth was so impressed by Grace that she agreed to all of Grace’s requests with the catch that Grace was to stop committing piracy against the crown.  Grace’s son was also released.

(Meeting between Grace O’Malley and Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich Castle, September 1593. Illustration from Anthologia Hibernica, vol. 11, 1793. )

Bingham was not pleased by this turn of events and consistently worked to cause her more trouble. This caused Grace to send in two more petitions to the Queen of England during April and May of 1595 asking for help. Elizabeth may not have responded to these cries for help because she was having a time trying to suppress a rebellion led by the Earl of Tyrone, Hugh O’Neil (National Archives). The claims were investigated at some point which caused Bingham to flee to England where he was later imprisoned (Murray). This rebellion would have consequences for Grace’s county but it did allow for her ships to rule the seas again but by this point in her life she was unable to join her fellow sea-farers on the water due to age.  Grace would die at some point in 1603 at Rockfleet Castle; she was around the age of 73.

Badass Quotes:

To defend her piracy to Elizabeth in a petition in 1593,

“Discord . . . and dissention . . . [where] every chieftain . . . took arms by strong hand to make head against his neighbours which in like manner constrained your highness fond subject to take arms and by force to maintain herself and her people.”

Books to Read:

Granuaile: Grace O'Malley: Grace O'Malley - Ireland's Pirate Queen by Anne Chambers

Documentaries to Watch:

Warrior Women “Grace O’Malley” by Lucy Lawless (available on Netflix)

Works Cited:

“Grace OMalley, the 16th Century Pirate Queen of Ireland.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/grace-o-malley-16th-century-pirate-queen-ireland-001773.

Murray, Theresa. “Gráinne Mhaol, Pirate Queen of Connacht: behind the Legend.” History Ireland, 4 Mar. 2013, www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/grainne-mhaol-pirate-queen-of-connacht-behind-the-legend/.

National Archives. “Meeting Grace O'Malley, Ireland's Pirate Queen.” The National Archives Blog, The National Archives, 16 June 2016, blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/meeting-grace-omalley-irelands-pirate-queen/.