Does anybody know anything about the pirate Grace O'Malley?

Question

I'm doing a school project on Grace O'Malley, but i can't seem to find anything really good about her. If you don't know anything, could you please supply any links if any come to mind? Thanks so much!

Answer 1

O'Malley was born in Ireland around 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.

She was the daughter of Owen Dubhdara O'Malley,[2] chieftain of the O'Malley clan. The O'Malleys controlled most of what is now the barony of Murrisk[3] in South-West County Mayo and recognized as their nominal overlords the Gaelicized Anglo-Norman Burke or de Burgo family who controlled much of what is now that county. Her mother, Margaret, was also an O'Malley. Although she was the only child of Dubhdara and his wife, Gráinne O'Malley had a half-brother, called Dónal na Piopa (Donal of the Pipes), who was the son of her father. [4]

Unusual 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 O'Malley 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,she cut off most of her hair to embarrass her father into taking her, thus earning her the nickname "Gráinne Mhaol" (IPA: [ˈgrɑːnʲə veːl]) (Irish maol meaning "bald" or having cropped hair); the name stuck.

As a child she most likely lived at her family's residence of Belclare and Clare Island, [5] but she may have been fostered to another family since fosterage was traditional among Irish nobility at the time.

O'Malley was probably formally educated, since she is believed to have spoken in Latin with Queen Elizabeth I at their historic meeting in 1593. [6] Because of her extensive travels and trade, she may have spoken some English, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic, and French as well.