World History
One of the most famous women in Irish history is Grace O'Malley. 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.
Rosemarie Colombraro wrote of her early life. She noted, "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.
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. Wikipedia notes, "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) will debut at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in fall 2006
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World History
Grace O'Malley, The Pirate Queen of Ireland
One of the most famous women in Irish history is Grace O'Malley. 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.
Rosemarie Colombraro wrote of her early life. She noted, "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.
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. Wikipedia notes, "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) will debut at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre in fall 2006
- Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth IQueen Elizabeth I is regarded as one of the greatest monarchs in English history, reigning as queen of England and queen of Ireland from 1558 until her death in 1603, and, in name only, styling herself as queen of France. Elizabeth was...
- Mary, Queen Of Scots
The queen of Scotland from 1542 until 1567, Mary was born on December 8, 1542, at Linlithgow Palace, Scotland, the only child of King James V of Scotland, who died six days after she was born. When Mary was five, her French mother, Mary of Guise, sent...
- Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English adventurer and early promoter of colonization. He organized the Roanoke colony in 1585, England’s first settlement in America. Raleigh was born in Devon in the west of England, a younger son of a poor but distinguished...
- Bbc Nation On Film: The Royal Family
BBC Nation on Film: The Royal Family. This is an archive of film clips of the British royal family, including footage of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation. The site describes itself, "Meet the Royal Family and celebrate important royal occasions. Watch...
- The John Hampden Society
The John Hampden Society. A society devoted to the study of 17th-century Parliamentarian John Hampden, who famous for resisting the King's illegal Ship Money tax. From the site: John Hampden was descended from an ancient Buckinghamshire family of...