Grace O'Malley

Gráinne Ní Mháille, also known as Granuaile or Gráinne Mhaol, known in English as Grace O’Malley (c. 1530 -c.1603) is an important figure in Irish legend but was in fact a larger than life figure from 16th century Irish history. O'Malley is sometimes called 'The Mother of all Rebellions' for her part in many Irish rebellions.

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Clare Island, associated with Grace O'Malley

Early life

Grace was born into early 16th century Ireland, in 1530 when Henry VIII was on the throne of England. Under the policies of the English government at the time, the semi-autonomous Irish princes and lords were left mostly to their own devices. However this was to change over the course of her life and the Tudor re-conquest of Ireland gathered pace.

Grace was the daughter of Owen Dubhdarra O'Malley, chieftain of the O'Malley clan. The O'Malleys controlled most of what is now the barony of Murrisk in South-West County Mayo and recognised as their nominal overlords the gaelicised Anglo-Norman Burke or de Burgo family who controlled much of what is now that county. Unusually among the Irish nobility of the time, the O'Malleys were a great seafaring family and taxed all those who fished off their coasts, which included fishermen from as far away as England. Their leader bore the ancient Irish title of The O'Malley.

According to Irish legend, as a young girl Grace wished to go on a trading expedition to Spain with her father, and on being told she could not because her long hair would catch in the ship's ropes, cut off her hair to embarrass her father into taking her, and thus earning her the nickname "Gráinne Mhaol" (IPA: [ˈgrɑːnʲə veːl]) (Irish maol meaning "bald" or having cropped hair); the name stuck.

Marriage to O'Flaherty

Grace was married in 1546 at a young age to Donal an Chogaidh (Donal of the Battle) O'Flaherty, tánaiste or heir to the O'Flaherty title. Grace bore three children during this marriage:

• Owen: Grace's eldest child and son, known to be extremely kind and forgiving. When Owen was in his late twenties, or early thirties, Richard Bingham tricked him and, as a result, Owen was murdered and Bingham and his troops took over Owen's castle. It should be noted that Bingham could simply have thrown Owen out of the castle, or into an English prison.
• Margaret: Sometimes called 'Maeve', Margaret was, much to Grace's disappointment, 'very feminine'. She married and had several children. Grace and Margaret's husband were supposedly very close, and more than once Grace's son-in-law saved her from death.
• Murrough: Murrough was said to take after his father, Donal, as he enjoyed warfare. He was also sexist, many times beating up his sister, Margaret, and refusing to listen to his mother because of her sex. Many sources report that Murrough, who seems to have no sense of loyalty, betrayed his family and joined forces with Richard Bingham after the murder of Owen. When Grace heard of this, she swore she'd never speak to Murrough again for the rest of her life, though she would often insult Morrough.

Later the warlike Donal was killed in battle, and Grace recaptured a castle from the Joyces that had been his (now Hen's Castle in Lough Corrib). Grace afterwards returned to Mayo and took up residence at the family castle or tower-house on Clare Island.

Second marriage

Grace later married a second time to Richard-an-Iarainn Burke, called "Richard-in-Iron", an appropriate corruption of his Irish name as he always wore a coat of mail. He was owner of Rockfleet Castle near Newport. According to tradition they married under Brehon law 'for one year certain', and although it is said that when the year was up Grace divorced Richard and kept the castle, they remained married for many more years until his death. Rockfleet remained for centuries in the O'Malley family and is today open to the public. They had one son, Tibbot Burke nicknamed Tiobóid na Long (Tibbot of the Ships). Tibbot was later given the title of Viscount Mayo.

The meeting of Grace O'Malley and Queen Elizabeth I

Attack from Galway

Grace engaged in piracy and her castle at Clare Island was attacked by an expedition from Galway who wanted to get rid of her. Grace, however, put them to flight and they barely escaped. Later Grace was captured but released some time afterward.

Later life

In the later 16th century English power steadily increased in Ireland and Grace's power was steadily encroached upon. Finally, in 1593, when her sons, Tibbot Burke and Murrough O'Flaherty, and her half-brother, Donal-na-Piopa, were taken captive by the English governor of Connaught, Sir Richard Bingham, Grace sailed to England to petition Elizabeth I of England for their release. Elizabeth apparently took to Grace, who was three years older, and the two women reached sufficient agreement for Elizabeth to grant Grace's requests provided Grace's support of many Irish rebellions and her piracy against Great Britain ended. Their discussion was carried out in Latin, as Grace spoke no English and Elizabeth spoke no Irish.

Despite the meeting, Grace later returned to her old ways, though nominally directing her raids against the "enemies of England" during the Nine Years War (Ireland). She most likely died at Rockfleet Castle in 1603, the same year as Elizabeth, though the year and place of her death are disputed.

Meeting with Elizabeth

Elizabeth I of England famously sent Grace a list of questions, which Grace answered and returned to Elizabeth. Grace then came to England (as previously stated) to petition the release of her sons and half-brother. She met with Elizabeth at Greenwich palace, wearing a fine gown and the two of them surrounded by guards and the members of Elizabeth's royal Court. Grace refused to bow before Elizabeth because Grace did not recognize Elizabeth as the Queen of Ireland, and wished to show Elizabeth this. It is also rumored that Grace had a dagger concealed about her person, which guards found upon searching her. Elizabeth's courtiers were said to be very upset and worried, but Grace informed the Queen that Grace carried it for her own safety--Elizabeth accepted this and, though the dagger was removed from Grace's possession, did not seem to worry. Some also reported that Grace sneezed and was given a lace-edged handerkerchief from a noblewoman. Grace apparently blew her nose into the handerkerchief and then threw the piece of cloth into a nearby fireplace, much to the shock of the Court. Grace amusedly informed Queen Elizabeth and her court that, in Ireland, a used handkerchief was considered dirty and was destroyed.

Grace and Elizabeth, after much talk, agreed to a list of demands. For example, Elizabeth was to remove Richard Bingham from his position in Ireland, and Grace was to stop supporting the Irish Lords' rebellions. Grace sailed back to Ireland, and the meeting seemed to have done some good, for Richard Bingham was removed from service. However, several of Grace's other demands (that the cattle and land Bingham had stolen from her were returned, for instance) were unmet, and within a rather short period of time, Elizabeth had sent Bingham back to Ireland. Upon Bingham's return, Grace realized that the meeting with Elizabeth had been useless, and went back to supporting Irish rebellions.

Fictional portrayals

Grace's adventurous life has inspired musicians, novelists and playwrights to create works based on her life. The latest artistic project inspired by Grace is the musical play The Pirate Queen by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg and John Dempsey, which debuted at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in October 2006, with American stage actor Stephanie J. Block as Grania (Grace). The Pirate Queen is based on Morgan Llywelyn's 1986 novel about Grace's life, Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas.

The play 'Bald Grace' by Marki Shalloe debuted at Chicago's Stockyards Theatre in 2005 and will be produced by Atlanta's Theatre Gael (American's oldest Irish American theatre) in 2006. A musical drama written in 1989, Grannia, story and lyrics by Thomas A. Power and music by Larry Allen, also tells the story of Grace O'Malley from childhood to her meeting with Queen Elizabeth I. It won the 1990 Moss Hart Award.

Author Bertrice Small portrays Grace O'Malley in several of her books, particularly in "Skye O'Malley", where Grace is a kinswoman to the main character. There is also a more recent book by Alan Gold titled The Pirate Queen: The Story of Grace O'Malley, an Irish Pirate that tells of her life from fourteen till her meeting with Queen Elizabeth I. "(A Novel of Elizabeth I & the Pirate O'Malley) The Wild Irish", by Robin Maxwell, tells Grace's story from birth up until a few years before her death. 'The Wild Irish' focuses mainly on Grace's life, but is highly fictional--the main part of the story if Grace telling her life-story to Elizabeth I the night of their meeting. A children's book, titled 'The Pirate Queen', was also written about Grace O'Malley.

In 2005, theater camp Stagedoor Manor premiered a play, The Heart Rising, focusing around a family of Irish immigrants to America. The show included Grace O'Malley as a common thread throughout the many generations of the family.

In June 2006 the Knock School of Irish Dancing did a Dance Drama based on Grace O'Malley's story, the production was called "Grainne O'Malley, The Pirate Queen" and was performed by the entire Knock School at the Winspear Center in downtown Edmonton, Alberta (Canada).

The Irish sail training vessel Asgard II has a figurehead of Granuaile.

External links

• The Author of GRANUAILE: Ireland's Pirate Queen (Grace O'Malley) 1530-1603 by Anne Chambers Official Site
• Renaissance-central.com [1]
• Granuaile O'Malley Web Resources [2]
• Rootsweb.com [3]
• legends.dm.net[4]
• Granuaile story and poem
• The song where Grace O'Malley is celebrated, Óró 'Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile
• Official site for The Pirate Queen musical
• Fansite for The Pirate Queen musical

Further Discussion

• darkestnight: discussion of the works of Alain Boubil & Claude-Michel Schönberg including The Pirate Queen & Grace O'Malley

References

• Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: Ireland's pirate queen Grace O'Malley c. 1530-1603. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. ISBN 0-86327-913-9
• Cook, Judith. 2004. Pirate Queen, the life of Grace O'Malley 1530-1603. Cork: Mercier Press. ISBN 1-85635-443-1
• Druett, Joan. 2000. She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea. Simon & Schuster, Inc.
• Lynch, Patricia. 1970. Orla of Burren (1954). Leicester: Knight Books, Brockhampton Press Ltd. SBN 340-03990-6 (children's literature, historical novel)