Grace O'Malley

Irish pirate and noblewoman

• Born: 1530
• Birthplace: Clew Bay, County Mayo, Ireland
• Died: 1603
• Place of death: Rockfleet Castle, Clew Bay, County Mayo, Ireland

O’Malley, a Gaelic noblewoman and notorious “pirate queen,” is remembered for her command of a fleet of Irish galleys and for the leading roles she played in the politics of rebellion and war during the decades of England’s final conquest of Ireland.

Early Life

The O’Malley clans descended from the eldest son of the high king of Ireland from the fourth century. The men of Grace O’Malley’s family were hereditary lords of Umhalls, part of the Connaught territory on Ireland’s west coast. Grace O’Malley was born into this noble Gaelic clan. She was called by the unusual nickname of Graniuale, which most likely is a corruption of the Gaelic for “Grace of the Umhalls.” The British anglicized Graniuale to “Granny.”

O’Malley’s mother was Margaret of clan Moher O’Malley, a branch of the O’Malley clan. Her father was Owen O’Malley, also named Black Oak (Dubhdarra). He was chieftain of Umhall Uachtarach, the Barony of Murrisk. According to the traditions and laws of the Gaelic Irish, Black Oak O’Malley was king of his territory and swore no allegiance to higher monarchs. He remained one of the few Gaelic chiefs never to acknowledge allegiance to the English crown. It is fair to assume that growing up in the political heart of her clan taught Grace the nuances, subtleties, and violence of sixteenth century Irish politics.

When not at sea, young Grace lived in one of several family castles around Clew Bay in northwestern Ireland. Most of her early childhood centered in the castle at Belclare, the clan seat, or on Clare Island, a favored summer castle. Few facts are available about her life as a child.

Life’s Work

Grace O’Malley lived in an age that saw the end of an era; an age that saw the bloody and brutal conversion of the Irish political system of Brehon law overseen by elected Gaelic lords to an emulation of Great Britain’s system of common law and inherited rule.

In 1546, sixteen-year-old O’Malley made a political marriage to Donal O’Flaherty, the chieftain of Connemara and heir to the O’Flaherty clan. The marriage was not a love match but produced two sons and a daughter. Donal was reckless and ill-tempered, one whose inconsistent and volatile rule likely played a formative role in the intrigue, piracy, and rebellion that filled O’Malley’s adult years. Historical record shows that forced (or perhaps allowed) by Donal’s irresponsibility Grace assumed clan leadership in action if not in name. This was unusual since Gaelic law banned women as chieftains. In addition to her “wifely” duties of rearing children and serving as mistress to two castles, O’Malley gradually superseded Donal’s rule. Throughout twenty-plus years of marriage, she settled tribal disputes, handled peaceful trading missions to Ulster, Scotland, Spain, and Portugal, and led pirate attacks on merchant ships.

Both the O’Malley and O’Flaherty clans boasted skilled seamen, a significant factor to clan well-being, wealth, and success. Trading, be it for fish or goods, was the primary source of O’Malley and O’Flaherty income. Piracy also was one of several profitable choices for Grace O’Malley. When a ship entered her territory, Grace could charge a toll, pilot them to safe passage, enter into trade, or steal their cargo. Pillage and plunder was not unusual nor was it considered an evil pursuit. Piracy was deemed a fact of doing business on the high seas.

By the time her husband was murdered by a rival clan sometime in the early 1560’s, O’Malley had a strong following within the clan. One of many legends surrounding her involves Cock’s castle, named for Donal’s ferocity in defending it. O’Malley and a few followers were supposedly trapped on the island fortress by an English force from Galway. Under siege and understaffed, O’Malley ordered the castle’s lead roof removed, melted, and poured over the turrets onto the English below. With the English soldiers removed to a safe distance, O’Malley and her retinue escaped by sea. The fortress was thereafter called Hen’s castle in honor of her ingenuity and resourcefulness.

Another legend that has basis in fact is the Howlth incident. Tradition suggests that O’Malley landed her ship at Howlth for resupply and, as is the Gaelic custom, went to the castle of the lord for hospitality. The lord, being at dinner, refused admittance. O’Malley was reportedly so incensed by this breach of polite behavior that she kidnapped the lord’s son. When Lord Howlth followed and begged for his son’s release, O’Malley demanded that the gates of Howlth castle never be closed to anyone who requested hospitality and that an extra plate always be laid at his table. Reportedly, Howlth castle follows the custom to this day.

O’Malley was near forty years old, her husband was dead, her sons and daughter were grown, and she faced a grim future in O’Flaherty territory. She gathered her followers aboard a flotilla of galleys and returned to the O’Malley territory. Sixteenth century Ireland was rife with violent rebellions by the Gaelic lords against the rule of England’s Queen Elizabeth I . Amid political turmoil and clan war, O’Malley and her followers flourished in Clew Bay, especially after she married Richard Burke in a bid to gain his castle, Rockfleet, which controlled the inland harbor.

Theobald, her youngest son, was born in 1567 at sea. Legend claims that Turkish pirates attacked the galley a day after his birth. The battle was going against the Irish crew when O’Malley’s captain implored her to come on deck to motivate the men. After a brief speech, she launched herself into the battle, rallied her crew, and sailed the captured Turkish ships home to Clew Bay.

In 1584, the English lord Sir Richard Bingham was given charge of the administration of Connaught. His governorship marked the end of forty years of prosperity for O’Malley. Bingham brought the previously distant power of Queen Elizabeth I to western Ireland. He was a brutal overlord who hated Granny O’Malley. Ten years of his vicious administration of British law drove O’Malley into poverty.

Another famous legend about O’Malley is also the best source about her life. Bingham’s campaign appropriated her wealth and holdings and blocked her sea ventures, even legitimate voyages. In desperation, O’Malley decided to challenge his authority. Early in 1593, she petitioned Queen Elizabeth for relief from Bingham’s reign of terror. In a daring and clever letter, O’Malley described her dismal circumstances and asked the queen for maintenance from her late husbands’ estates. In a brilliant twist, O’Malley ended her letter with an offer to use her seafaring skills and fleet of galleys to fight enemies of the queen, a bold bid to resume piracy under the queen’s name.

In July of 1593, Queen Elizabeth responded with a letter of her own in which she asked eighteen questions about O’Malley and her life. Called the “Articles of Interrogatory,” the questions and O’Malley’s answers provide a factual telling of her unusual life and a reflection of Irish society and politics. Bingham’s vicious crusade increased, however. When her son Owen was murdered in Bingham’s custody and her youngest son, Theobald, was arrested, O’Malley set sail for England to have a face-to-face audience with the queen. The meeting, which has sparked the imagination of many fiction writers, would have been an astonishing event, since Elizabeth sent written orders to Bingham granting all O’Malley’s requests.

The legends surrounding Grace O’Malley are among the most colorful to come from the tumultuous sixteenth century. Ireland’s pirate queen died in 1603 at Rockfleet Castle. She was laid to rest beside the sea that gave her enduring support and enrichment.

Significance

The record-keeping practices of the sixteenth century ignored Grace O’Malley. Except for the “Articles of Interrogatory,” historical record has little direct information about her. It has fallen to the world of fiction and myth to pay tribute to Ireland’s pirate queen. Legend describes a colorful and romantic figure whose deeds were splendid and larger than life. Many historical facts about Graniuale lend credence to the legend in a time when women had little power, Grace O’Malley carved a kingdom on land and on sea for herself, her family, and her followers.

Bibliography

Boylan, Henry, and C. O. Niwot. A Dictionary of Irish Biography. 3d ed. New York: Rinehart, 1998. Provides a biographical entry about Grace O’Malley.

Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: Life and Times of Grace O’Malley c. 1530-1603. Rev. ed. Dublin: Wolfhound Press, 1998. Exploration of the legend and true circumstances surrounding the life of Grace O’Malley within the context of the eventful age to which she belonged.

McCully, Emily Arnold. The Pirate Queen. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1995. An account of O’Malley’s life written for younger readers.

Netzley, Patricia D. The Encyclopedia of Women’s Travel and Exploration. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 2001. Provides a biographical entry about Grace O’Malley.

Wagner, John A. Historical Dictionary of the Elizabethan World: Britain, Ireland, Europe, and America. Phoenix, Ariz.: Oryx Press, 1999. A chapter on Ireland contains informative entries profiling O’Malley and her contemporaries.