O’Malley, Grace (1530?-1603?), was an Irish noblewoman, pirate, and sea captain of the 1500’s. She is also known by other names, such as Gráinne Ní Máille and Granuaile. Her seafaring adventures are the subject of many legends. O’Malley commanded fleets of ships that sailed along the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. Some people mistakenly call her a chieftain (clan leader) or “The Pirate Queen of Connacht.” But under Gaelic law of the time, women were not allowed to rule. Still, she led many men in battles on land and sea, and they followed her because of her bravery, leadership, and seafaring knowledge.
Grace O’Malley was born in County Mayo, Ireland, in about 1530. She was a member of the seafaring O’Malley clan. In her youth, she sailed on trading voyages with her father’s fleet. Around 1546, O’Malley married Dónal O’Flaherty, a member of a seafaring clan in County Galway. After O’Flaherty died, O’Malley could not inherit O’Flaherty property and rejoined her family in County Mayo. She later married Richard Bourke of County Mayo and used her fleet to help him by raiding ships and attacking seaports. Their success made Bourke the MacWilliam, the leader of the Bourkes in County Mayo and the most powerful lord in western Connacht, a province of Ireland. Bourke died in 1583.
During the 1500’s, England was seeking to destroy the Irish clans’ traditional system of governing and increase English control over Ireland. This produced much fighting, both between the Irish and English and among rival Irish clan leaders.
O’Malley endured many hardships stemming from her raids and her reluctance to comply with English laws. She was imprisoned from 1577 to 1579. In 1586, English troops killed one of her sons. Sir Richard Bingham, the English governor of Ireland’s Connacht province, also imprisoned her briefly in 1586. Even after O’Malley’s release, Bingham continued his efforts against her. He eventually seized or destroyed most of her property and imprisoned another of her sons and her brother.
In 1593, O’Malley visited Queen Elizabeth I to appeal on behalf of herself and her family. Elizabeth pardoned O’Malley of all of the charges against her, ordered the release of her son and her brother from prison, and awarded her a pension from her sons’ taxes. O’Malley’s ships were still active until about 1601. She died around 1603.
