The Pirate Grace

Grace O' Malley was born in 1530, almost the same year that Queen Elizabeth I of England was born. They both also died around the same time, at the beginning of the 17th century. Grace's "turf" was the west coast of Ireland. She was the undisputed chief of the O'Malley clan for 40 years. She sailed, traded, and battled all around Europe. She had castles, ships, and hundreds of men at her command. She fought throughout her life against Elizabeth's determined efforts to subdue Ireland. The climax of our story is a meeting between the two women, both in their early sixties, which actually took place in London in 1593.