Grace O'Malley Gráinne Uaile
Legend has it that on one of these trips, their ship was boarded by English pirates, and the young Grace jumped on the back of
a pirate who threatened her father, Dudara 'Black Oak' O'Malley.
In 1546, at the age of 15 or 16, Grace O'Malley married Donal
O'Flaherty. The couple shared their passion for the sea and a strong
craving for adventure, but the marriage was really a
political combining of the two most powerful families in west
Connaught. During the marriage Grace gave birth to
three children (Owen, Margaret, and Murrough), but even motherhood
proved unable to keep her from her beloved sea.
Donal O'Flaherty, nicknamed Donal an Chogaidhher, or Donal of the
Battles, is often portrayed as a hot-headed person with more muscles
than brains. Grace on the other hand combined her fearless fighting
spirit and courage, with wit, loyalty and insight. This combination of
traits was very useful in the mid-1500's, when Ireland was an unsettled
and un-unified country.
Throughout the centuries, Irish clans were
used to settling disputes between themselves. If necessary by battle. Although the balance
of power shifted constantly, the Brehon Law, and especially the elected
chieftains, provided a relative stable, yet fragile society. That is,
until King Henry VIII tried to submit the Irish chieftains to the
English laws by executing his so-called Surrender and Regrant Policy.
Briefly, this policy enabled Irish clan leaders who surrendered to
the King of England to be given English titles, and were allowed to keep
their lands. The system of English titles, which are inherited by the
oldest son, contravened the Brehon Law, by which clan leaders were
elected. Not every clan leader was eager to take an
oath of alliance to the Crown. This resistance
against the Surrender and Regrant Policy led to the Desmond Rebellions,
and the Nine Year's War, in the second half of the sixteenth century.
The O'Malleys and O'Flahertys refused to resign themselves to the
Crown. As an immediate consequence, they were declared undesirables in
Galway Bay. Without access to this port, then one of the most
important of the British Isles, the merchant families were forced
to find a new way to make their living. Grace and Donal held different
opinions about their future, and while Donal shrugged his shoulders and
continued trading, by using other ports, Granuaile began to intercept
ships heading for Galway, and gave them the choice - buy a safe passage
or get robbed.
Partly because Donal was rarely in Connaught, but mostly for her
qualities, Grace was the recognised chieftain of the O'Flaherty clan until
her husband died, after 19 years of marriage. It was common practice
that a wife inherited one-third of her husband's possessions, but
Grace O'Malley was left empty-handed. The circumstances surrounding
Donal's death are not known. Some assume that he was murdered by a
relative, which might explain the drastic change in the relationship
between Grace and the O'Flaherty's.
With a few hundred followers, Grace returned to O'Malley territory
and settled on Clare Island, outside of Westport. Using Granuaile Castle as her base, she controlled
most of Clew Bay and large parts of the west coast. She maintained a
series of fortifications, and a system by which messages could be
transferred. However there was a troubling interruption nearby, in what is nowadays
known as Newport. Rockfleed Castle, Carraig an Cabhlaigh, the home of
Richard 'Iron Dick' Burke, was not controlled by the O'Malley's.
Grace decided on a very Cleopatrarian solution; she
married Burke in 1566. With her former experience in mind, she made the
condition that either party could dissolve the marriage after one year.
Exactly 12 months after the wedding, Grace confined herself in the
castle, and simply dismissed Richard.
Her second marriage produced one son, whose birth is subject of another legend. It is said that Grace, then about 37 years
old, gave birth to this child onboard ship, during one of her voyages,
hence his name, Tibbot Na Long, or Theobald of the Ships. This is
not really surprising, considering the amount of time she spent at sea, but the story continues. Moments after delivering the baby, the ship was attacked by
Turkish pirates. With Grace under hatches, the attackers gained the
upper hand, until she gathered her strength and joined the fight, shouting "Who cannot do without me for one day!" After her intervention,
the tide turned, and the Turkish ship was captured.
Legend also has it that the marriage of Grace and Richard was not just one of convenience. After Richard had been axed,
the couple maintained an intimate relationship, and when Richard died in
1583, Grace considered herself heiress of his livestock and estate in
Borosowle, now Burrishoole.
In the years following Richard's death, Grace, by then a woman in
her mid-50's, tried to be conventional. She settled down
in Borosowle, and lived by farming crops and rearing cattle, but found
her intentions thwarted by the newly appointed Governor of Connaught,
Sir Richard Bingham. Bingham had set his sights on the estates and
possessions of the remaining Connaught chieftains. The regrant part of
the Surrender and Regrant Policy was long forgotten by then, and the
seized estates were handed out to English noblemen.
Grace O'Malley was arrested in 1586, and destined to die on the
gallows. She escaped her fate, probably by betraying her
brother-in-law, but after her release, she found her eldest son, Owen
had been murdered on the orders of Bingham, and her estates confiscated. Robbed of her fields and cattle, she reverted to the seas, and piracy.
Bingham was still not satisfied, and continuously chased Granuaile. After he made a death threat to her son Murrough, Grace had had enough.
In 1593 she wrote to Queen Elizabeth I and asked for freedom from Bingham.
Elizabeth replied by sending a list with 18 questions, the so-called
Articles of Interrogatory. While Elizabeth was studying the
answers, Bingham arrested Grace's sons Murrough and Tibbott, and, Donell
O'Piper, her brother. Taking hostages was common practise to discourage
opponents from acting irrationally.
Without hesitation Grace O'Malley travelled to London and received an audience with the Queen. In contrast to the Articles and Grace's answers, both of which are kept in the English
State Papers, there are no known records of this conversation, but
apparently Grace succeeded. Elizabeth ordered Bingham to release
her relatives, and in turn, Grace put out to sea again, under the guise
of fighting for the Queen.
Bingham had little faith in Grace's intentions. He made
sure she was closely monitored during her voyages, until Grace
could not stand her pursuers anymore. She moved in with the Earl of
Ormond for a while before returning to Rockfleed Castle.
The latter days of Grace O'Malley's life are vague. Some
assume that she took up pirating again and eventually died in battle,
while others think she died of old age in Rockfleed Castle
around 1603. Even her final resting place is unknown for sure. Some believe she was buried in a
tomb bearing the O'Malley family crest in the Cistercian Abbey on Clare
Island, others think her resting place is her castle itself.
There is little evidence to support she actually spent much time at Kildavnet Tower on Achill
Island, but nevertheless, it is locally known as
Grace O'Malley's Castle.
