Statue of Grainne at Westport House (wikipedia)
I think most of us are aware of the fraught history between England and Ireland. And those of us with part English, part Irish heritage (like myself) are only too aware of it! Pirate Queen and Irish legendary heroine Grace O’Malley (Grainne Ni Maille in Irish) is an integral part of that history. I was vaguely aware of her story, but it was a visit to the West of Ireland to trace my own ancestral roots and upon seeing this quote about Grainne from her English adversaries that persuaded me she needed to be this month’s herstory feature:
“(She is) a woman who hath imprudently passed the part of womanhood”
Ah! A woman who has dared to be imprudently unwomanly! This sounds like the sort of woman I like!
A pirate, (Youtube)
A Pirate Queen is born…
Gráinne was born around 1530 in Mayo, Connaught, the only child of a Gaelic aristocratic clan who traded goods by land and sea and engaged in piracy. Coming from this sort of elite background, she would’ve been well educated. She married Dónal O’Flaherty, of the ruling Flaherty clan, aged 16. Under Gaelic law at the time, married women retained their own property (unlike in English law, where they were forced to surrender it to their husbands) and were also able to purchase further property. Gráinne acquired her own ships and men, and took over chieftainship of her husband’s clan when he proved to be inept. Already she was proving herself to be a leader. Upon her husband’s death soon after, Gráinne moved to Clare island off the coast of the west. It was here that she established her reputation as the ‘Pirate Queen’ by defending and protecting her land and waters with piracy and not being afraid to attack back!
She married again - Richard Bourke - in 1567. Together the pair had a fiery relationship according to some of the folklore, where Gráinne would throw him out of the house regularly, but it was a successful alliance and they battled against the English overlords who were, under Elizabeth I, constantly attempting to levy increasing taxes and take over Irish land. Ireland had been dominated and owned by the English since Henry VIII’s time. The English landowners lived alongside the native Irish who retained power via alliances with more powerful clans and families. Subsequently, there was a lot of feuding and upheaval, with native Irish clans doing what they could to survive at that time.
Sir Richard Bingham (Wikipedia)
Dick spoils it all...(as usual)
In 1584, after Grainne's husband’s death, Sir Richard Bingham became the English Crown President of Connaught. The policy of the English was to anglicise and control Ireland completely. Gráinne was at this stage 53 and a wealthy Irish woman of power. Bingham was clearly not a fan of the Irish, and famously said:
“The Irish were never tamed with words but with swords”
He saw Gráinne as the principal source of rebellion and took one of her sons hostage for a year. He then seized another son’s lands (Owen) and killed him. Gráinne, obviously incensed by this, started organising a rebellion against him. She was temporarily imprisoned on his orders, and then forced to flee to Ulster and remain in exile. Bingham was then called to Flanders and left Ireland (yay!) And Gráinne appealed to the English for a pardon for herself and her children. She got it, but Bingham still wanted revenge against her…
During the Armada, Bingham ordered English troops to root out the rebels including Gráinne and kill them. The rebels rose up again and Connaught was in turmoil. Bingham laid waste to Gráinne’s lands and fleet and left her homeless, effectively. Her son Theobold had no choice but to submit to the English. It didn’t seem to help him much though, as he and his brother Murragh were implicated in yet another rebellion plot and charged with treason against the Crown. Gráinne now had no choice, having lost everything, and potentially the execution of two more of her children. She had to appeal to the Queen herself.
The Meeting of Grainne and Elizabeth I (Wikicommons)
‘Thursday at 2: Meeting with Liz’
Gráinne sailed for England in 1593. Despite efforts by Bingham to deny her an audience with the Queen and have her executed, Elizabeth I - maybe partially intrigued by this gutsy Irish woman of legend - agreed to meet with her. Gráinne, by this point in her 60’s and about the same age as the Queen herself, pleaded her old age and poverty yet promised to defend the Queen against enemies with ‘sword and fire’ if the Queen would pardon her past activities, restore her property to her and spare the lives of her sons. She also made sure she didn’t let Bingham off the hook - she informed the Queen of how he had stolen her property, imprisoned her and wilfully murdered her son (without trial). Apparently, the meeting was conducted in Latin, which both women spoke fluently!
There are many legends about this meeting. The most common ones are that 1) Grainne refused to bow to the Queen as she didn’t recognise her as the Queen of Ireland - but I find this hard to believe. Grainne would have been on the charm offensive as she was really in a desperate situation. 2) She apparently blew her nose then threw into the fire a lace hankie the Queen’s lady in waiting gave her. Again, I think this is probably English propaganda that frequently pitted the Irish as ‘uncivilised savages’.
Although she didn’t restore her property in full, The Queen did pardon Gráinne’s rebellious past actions and recommended that her sons be released and Gráinne be provided with a pension. Bingham was ordered to leave them in peace. Result! Grainne must’ve totally charmed the Queen, who was not known to suffer fools gladly, because she said of her:
"…as long as she lives, [I remain confident that] she will] continue a dutiful subject”
Oh to be a fly on the wall in THAT meeting!
Rockfleet Castle, Grainne’s final home. Co. Mayo. (Failte Ireland)
Peace at last?…
But Bingham didn’t follow his ‘restraining order’ and ordered English troops to accompany Grainne and her sons back to Ireland, and obliged them to be stationed on her lands- forcing her to feed the troops. Because she was so poor by this point, she petitioned the Queen in London yet again in 1593, explaining what Bingham was doing. This time, Bingham was brought to justice. He fled to England and was imprisoned.
But it wasn’t peace yet for Grainne, The rebel clan leaders continued to try to assert power over the English and Grainne and her sons had two choices: The Crown or the rebels. They apparently reached an agreement with the Crown. In the end, she allied herself with the English, but she had no choice. Her son Theobald later became Viscount of Mayo thanks to Charles I.
Grainne died in 1603, the same year as Elizabeth I. Her true story is shrouded in many different myths and folk legends. But I think many parallels can be drawn between Grainne and her ‘adversary’ represented by the English Queen. Not only were they born and died around the same time and in the same years, they were both women who held and commanded power in their respective lands and, apparently, seemed to recognise and respect that in each other, too. I think the legendary meeting between Grainne and Elizabeth is an early example of ‘women supporting women’.
But of course there are stark differences between them. Grainne was not a monarch of an Empire, they were not equals!. Grainne did whatever it took to protect and preserve her family’s rights. She was a brave and courageous woman who fought against the forces that conspired against her, namely: imperialism and misogyny. In many ways Grainne and Elizabeth are symbolic of the historic battle between the Irish and the English. Grainne is not just a feminist icon, but an icon of Ireland itself.
So many poems and ballads have been made about the legend of Grainne, here’s one of my favourites sung by the Dubliners: ‘Oro Se Do Bheatha Bhaile. It’s sung entirely in Gaelic, so here’s a translation to English.
So that’s it for this month’s HERSTORY. Quite a long one - but I wanted to give Grainne’s story justice. I’ll be back next month with a new Herstory!
Lots of love
Herstorical Tours..x
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