Wonder Woman of the Week: Grace O'Malley

Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming up, and I’d be amiss if I didn’t spotlight one of the most famous female pirates from history. She raided English ships, pillaged Irish castles, and traveled to the heart of London to personally insult the queen. The Wonder Woman of the Week is Grace O’Malley, Pirate Queen of Connacht.

In the 16th Century, Queen Elizabeth I of England sent invasion forces to conquer Ireland. The English took most of the island relatively quickly, but had not fully taken control. One region the English had yet to take was the West Coast of Ireland (known as Connacht.) Grace was the daughter of the O’Malley Clan chieftain. The O’Malleys were well renown seafarers who controlled the sea routes along the coast of Connacht, charging taxes to fishermen and traders. Grace married young, but her husband died in battle early in the marriage making Grace head of the O’Malley Clan and the O’Flaherty Clan. As English armies continued to push into Connacht, Grace was under more and more pressure to chose a side. Finally, after an English force assaulted one of her castles, O’Malley took to piracy. [1]

Grace O’Malley’s multi-ship enterprise would raid ships and fishing boats along the Connacht coasts taking whatever they deemed valuable and sending the prizes back to Grace. She even went so far as to employ the infamous Gallowglass- fierce warriors that are essentially a hybrid of Viking berserkers, Scottish warriors, and everybody’s worst nightmare. Her empire didn’t stop at Connacht either. O’Malley was conquering castles and forts in Britain, Spain, France, and Portugal. Grace was not the king of empress that stayed behind and dispatched navies. She was well-known to have waded into battles at the head of the charge. One rumor states that while giving birth to her third child at sea, her ship came under attack by a Turkish navy. She finished giving birth, grabbed a pistol, and headed to battle. On a second occasion, an English Earl refused to allow O’Malley’s to enter his town. Grace kidnapped his son and held him for ransom until the Earl agreed to not only allow her into his town, but to give her a personal seat at his dining table. The Earl agreed and a seat specifically open for only Grace O’Malley is still in the family’s dining room today. [2]

The English weren’t just going to sit back and let the pirate queen force earls to make Grace breakfast though. Queen Elizabeth sent an army to storm O’Malley’s main castle. O’Malley was out gunned and outnumbered. Instead of surrendering, she ordered her soldiers to melt their armor into bullets and pour molten oil on incoming enemies. When the English soldiers retreated, O’Malley ordered her ships to fire on the fleeing English. Meanwhile, the English governor led an attack that captured O’Malley’s brother and sons holding them as prisoners until Grace would surrender. Instead, Grace went straight to London to speak directly to Queen Elizabeth. Her knife was confiscated, she offended one of the lords, and she spoke to the queen in Latin (refusing to speak a word of English). She refused to bow and stood tall before the English Queen as she demanded the release of her family. Queen Elizabeth fired the governor, released O’Malley’s family, and made peace with Grace. [2]

After she died in 1603, the English remembered Grace O’Malley as “a woman who hath imprudently passed the part of womanhood” which usually means she was a badass feminist woman who never let society define her gender roles. In Ireland, she was largely ignored in history. She quickly became a folktale used to frighten sailors and fishermen. She later became a national symbol and an icon for international feminism. [3]

Grace O’Malley was born when chaos didn’t leave a lot of room for free will. Her nation was invaded before she was born. She was forced to marry at a young age. Her husband even died in battle when Grace could arguably still be considered a child. When most women would have coasted along, Grace went to the coast and forged a pirate empire that included parts of modern-day Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, France, Spain, and Portugal. She fought from the front lines- in one case ten minutes after giving birth- and dispatched ships to “collect taxes” along fiver separate nations’ coasts. When faced with having to surrender or let her family die, Grace created a third option walking straight into the home of Queen Elizabeth I, refused to bow, and demanded the release of her family. While there were thousands of pirate women throughout history, and nearly a dozen famous ones, Grace O’Malley was the richest and most successfully female pirate in all history.

“Grace O Malley Granuaile” 2015. Discovering Ireland Vacations. Accessed 16 September 2015. http://www.discoveringireland.com/grace-o-malley-granuaile/

“Grace O’Malley” Ben Thompson. Badass of the Week. Accessed 16 September 2015. http://www.badassoftheweek.com/omalley.html

“Grainne Mhaol, pirate queen of Connacht: behind the legend” Theresa D. Murray. History Ireland. Accessed 16 September 2015. http://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/grainne-mhaol-pirate-queen-of-connacht-behind-the-legend/