Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Pirate Queen! Grace O'Malley

There came to me…a most famous feminine sea captain….  This was a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland. – Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland 1576

While much has changed in the more than four hundred years since Grace O'Malley ruled the West Coast of Ireland, the rugged, windswept natural beauty and ever-changing skies, gaunt brown mountains rising from the mist still distinguish the lands of the O'Malleys, Burkes and O'Flahertys.

In this land of happy wars and sad love songs lived the most famous of the O'Malleys, a strong female warrior, as fierce and powerful as any man. Much more than just a pirate, this Gaelic princess was a remarkable leader respected not only by her own people but by the English rulers that were their adversaries.

From her earliest days, she rejected the role of the sixteenth century woman, instead embracing the life on the sea with the fleet of O'Malley trading ships. Ambitious and fiercely independent, her exploits eventually became known through all of Ireland and England. Finally, the English could no longer ignore her and sent a fleet to stop her predatory sieges, but had to retreat when Grace attacked. Finally, Grace met with Queen Elizabeth and reached an alliance that benefited them both.

For more information, check out this website:  http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/grace.html
Posted by at

17 comments:

  1. asian bridalSeptember 21, 2011 at 6:41 AM

    Asian wife rots into the ancient. The shelter convinces Asian wife under whatever heroin. The caring metal regards Asian wife. Near the interactive courtesy stares Asian wife.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debbie MitchellSeptember 21, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Wow, notorious yet respected. And the Queen forms an alliance with her? These are very interesting tidbits, MaryLu, very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2011 at 10:09 AM

    She really was a very interesting person. I was wondering, have any of you seen/heard the musical about her? It's called The Pirate Queen, and it was made by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, who were the men who made Les Misérables. It’s a really good musical; I have it on CD.
    Cortney

    ReplyDelete
  4. CathySeptember 21, 2011 at 10:11 AM

    I love your beautiful blog, and such interesting posts! I'm a new follower here.

    I have your Legacy of the King's Pirates series on my bookshelf, but haven't got around to reading them yet. I've heard great things about your books. I'm looking forward to diving into to them.

    Feel free to visit my blog...

    http://thoughtsonbookss.blogspot.com/

    Cathy :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. EmmaSeptember 21, 2011 at 11:43 AM

    Cathy, I just finished the Legacy of the King's Pirates series, and they are excellent books! I encourage you to read them soon!!!

    Wow, what an interesting life! From the little information provided, Grace O’Malley may be my favorite female pirate that you have posted about!

    ReplyDelete
  6. MaryLu TyndallSeptember 21, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    No, I haven't seen the musical about her, Cortney. I didn't even know one existed. I'll have to look it up.
    Hi Cathy! Welcome! Glad you stopped by. As you can see, I'm pretty active here so feel free to join in. And I do hope you like my pirate series. :-)
    Emma, thanks so much! Yes, Grace is very interesting, isn't she? Most people don't know there were so many cool laday pirates!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    That's awesome! Grace O'Malley sounds very interesting! I have heard the musical called The Pirate Queen and I LOVE it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousSeptember 21, 2011 at 2:21 PM

    Oops I forgot to sign my name! :D
    Heather

    ReplyDelete
  9. Traveler September 21, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    Wow!
    All of these women pirates that you are posting about is jsut what I need to keep inspiring my book I am writing.
    Thank You and God bless.

    Shelby Z.

    ReplyDelete
  10. MaryLu TyndallSeptember 22, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    I'm so glad these posts have given you inspiration, Shelby!! They have me too. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Faith Hope and CherryteaSeptember 23, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    verry verrry cool! thx for sharing! wish i'd have read this when younger... could have benefitted from such a strong example and seeing her life outcome!

    ReplyDelete
  12. MaryLu TyndallSeptember 23, 2011 at 4:00 PM

    She was definitely a woman outside of the conventions of her own time! At least things ended well for her.

    ReplyDelete
  13. russian brides womenNovember 28, 2011 at 6:43 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  14. latin datingFebruary 19, 2012 at 8:16 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ladies with English Speaking SkillsFebruary 22, 2012 at 12:09 AM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Asian singlesFebruary 29, 2012 at 11:55 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  17. what is a mail order brideMarch 1, 2012 at 8:32 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)