No doubt forgetting that she had once before had to fight to inherit one-third of her first dead husband’s property, Granuaile wasted no time in establishing a legal claim to her share. She also took possession of several of his castles and kept them for the rest of her life for her own use. Thus, at the time of Richard’s death, Granuaile was about 53 years old and perhaps the most powerful woman in Ireland. She had her own army, a large castle to live in and several other smaller castles to use when she wanted to, a large fleet of ships, and plenty of livestock.
Unfortunately for Granuaile, her power also bred problems. The English were stepping up their efforts to stamp out the Irish aristocracy, and one of their new policies involved ending the office of the MacWilliam. This was especially offensive to Granuaile, who had assumed that her son would one day inherit that office for himself. She began to show her displeasure by attacking English merchant ships, often stealing their cargoes.
Given the fact that her power and her piracy were so notorious, the English officials in Ireland soon decided to make a special example of her. Their reasoning may very well have been that if they could stop her, they would have more time to spend chasing other pirates. They may have also reasoned that defeating her would give them a tougher reputation with the pirates and any other rebellious Irishmen they were trying to control.
Whatever their reasons, their campaign against Granuaile began with capturing her son Tibbott. But the English had no intention of ransoming him back to his powerful mother; by this time, the policy among the English lords was to hold the heirs to Irish clans and indoctrinate them in English ways. The assumption was that they could then later be released and return to their clans ready to cooperate with their new “lords.” That is how Tibbott came to learn to read and write English, as well as speak it like a proper gentleman.
Though the English controlled much of Tibbott’s life, he was by no means a normal prisoner. During this time he met and married Maeve O’Coonor Sligo. Meanwhile, Granuaile’s oldest son Owen also married, but he would not live long enough to establish a home of his own. Instead, he was killed by the brother of Sir Richard Bingham after he was caught trying to hide his cattle from the English lord in order to avoid paying taxes.
Sir Richard Bingham
Naturally, Granuaile was enraged by her son’s execution. She became one of the leaders of the Irish rebellion, setting sail for Scotland to recruit soldiers to help her. However, before she could get there, Bingham captured her and several of her kinsmen, killing some of them and imprisoning her. Though Bingham threatened her with execution, she was eventually released thanks to the negotiations of her daughter Margaret’s husband, known as the Devil’s Hook.
Though Granuaile was released, she was by no means reformed. As soon as she obtained her freedom, she once more set out for Scotland, but once again she did not reach her destination. This time a storm damaged her ships and forced her to put in to Ulster for three months of repairs. She used this time wisely, meeting with clan chieftains to bolster support for the rebellion, but before she had her forces in place, the rebellion ended with Bingham being replaced by Sir John Perrot.
John Perrot
As soon as she learned that there was a new English lord in Ireland, Granuaile set sail to meet him, figuring that since Perrot had long been highly critical of Bingham, he might hear her out. Her gamble paid off, and she quickly received a full pardon from Perrot not only for herself but also her children.
Chapter 5: A Pirate to the End
A close brush with execution might have reformed some women, but it had no effect on Granuaile, who immediately acquired more ships and men and went back to business as usual. But unfortunately, business as usual did not last for long. On July 12, 1588, the legendary Spanish Armada started for the English channel. The Spanish plan was to take this invasion, led by the Duke of Parma, to the coast of southeast England, where they would be released to conquer Elizabethan England for the Spanish monarch and Catholic Christendom. The Armada included over 150 ships, 8,000 sailors and 18,000 soldiers, and it boasted a firepower of 1,500 brass guns and 1,000 iron guns. Just leaving port itself took the entire Armada two days.
16th century depiction of the Spanish Armada
The English navy was strong and well-prepared, but they were understandably concerned about what might happen if Spanish ships landed or even just washed ashore, in Ireland. As a result, Perrot was again replaced by Bingham, leading to tensions rising with Granuaile. For her part, Granuaile had done business with the Spanish for years and was neither charmed nor frightened by them. If she had a chance, she would board and plunder their ships, but if they cooperated she would have no issue with them. In fact, Granuaile so thoroughly despised the English that she would even help them hide from their English enemies.
As everyone who has been taught history now knows, the Armada was one of the most famous military debacles in history. Whether it was simple mathematical miscalculation or plain bad luck, coupled with English fire ships assailing the Spanish Armada, the Aramada was defeated – decisively so. By the time the Armada found its reluctant way home in awful conditions, it had permanently lost over one third of the ships. On the Irish coast, the Armada had suffered further losses.
Suspecting that Granuaile was up to no good, Bingham sent his sheriff to her castle in February 1589 to look for hiding Spanish sailors. While it appears that Granuaile may not have been there when he arrived with 250 men, her grandson Richard Bourke resisted the invasion of their home. When the sheriff continued his assault and marched onto the castle grounds, Bourke and his men responded by attacking the group, killing the sheriff and about 25 of his soldiers.
Not surprisingly, this incident intensified the disdain between the Irish and the English, especially Bingham. Looking on from London, Elizabeth became concerned that perhaps part of the problem lay with the governor himself, so she sent investigators to Dublin to determine what, if any, fault was his. When the committee acquitted him of any wrongdoing, they returned him to his office with strict orders that he was to get control of his territory and end the rebellion. Bingham thus set about eliminating the problem by trying to eliminate the people involved. This was particularly hard on Granuaile’s family, which lost a lot of kinsmen and lands. She in turn sought sanctuary in the only place she felt safe, living on board her ships and sailing up and down the coast plying the only trade she knew: piracy.
It was at about this time that she heard that her second son, Murrough, had committed the ultimate treason against his family by joining the English. Apparently he agreed to cooperate with Bingham if he would send troops to help Murrough in his own battle against a nearby neighbor. According to Bingham’s later report, Granuaile determined to discipline her son for his errant way by attacking his castle at Ballinehencie, burning the surrounding town and stealing most of his livestock and property. She also killed several of the men who tried to stop her. It seems her actions worked, since there is no record of Murrough working with the English following those reprisals. And though Granuaile had no problem attacking her offspring to teach them a lesson, she did not want anyone else harming them. When Scottish mercenaries attacked her clan near Erris, she chased them all the way back to Scotland and made sure that they knew better than to come after her family again.
In spite of her fighting spirit, Granuaile still knew that she could not hold back the encroaching English forever. By early 1592, she and her son were the only two leaders among the Irish who continued to resist English rule, and eventually Bingham had anchored so many warships in the harbors around her castle that she could no longer find a sheltered cove to harbor in overnight. He was also able to capture most of her ships, leaving her unable to continue to make a living. When Tibbott approached her about making peace with their triumphant adversaries, she realized that there was nothing else left to do and gave him her blessing.
Though she was down, Granuaile was not yet done. In this, her most desperate hour, she hatched
her most desperate plan; she would lay her case directly before Elizabeth. In her first letter to the queen, dated July 1593, Granuaile gave her side of a story that she knew Elizabeth has already heard from Bingham. She began by portraying herself not as a powerful pirate leader but as a little old lady just trying to do the best she can to survive in a war torn country:
“In most humbler wise shows unto your most excellent Majestie your loyal and faithful subject Grany ny Mally of Conaught in your highness’ realm of Ireland: that whereas by means of the continual discord, strifes and dissention that heretofore long time remained among the Irish, especially in West Conaught by the seaside, every chieftain, for his safeguard and maintenance and your gracious means the said province is reduced to that civil course that the chieftains, freeholders or gentlemen have compounded and is assigned what and how much he is to have; in which composition no order was taken for your fond subject what maintenance she ought to have of her former husband’s lands and by the same is restrained to use her former course to her utter decay and ruin; in tender consideration whereof and in regard to her great age, she most humbly beseeches your Majesty, in your princely bounty and liberality, to grant her some reasonable maintenance for the little time she has to live.”
She then proceeded on to ask for help for her family, who she once again portrayed as the helpless victims of circumstance:
“And whereas your said subject’s two sons are the lawful heirs of the lands of their said fathers whereof they now stand seized and possessed, that it would please you Royal Majesty to direct your gracious letters to your Lieutenant Deputy of your said realm willing him to accept a surrender at the hands of her said sons, yielding to Your Majesty, your heirs and successors such yearly rents as conveniently such lands may yield and they to hold the same, by letters patents to them and their heirs forever and to grant the like for the lands of Walter Burgh Fitz Theobald Reogh and Shane Burke Mac William Mac Moiler, cousin germain to her said son.”
Finally, Granuaile asked Elizabeth for the one thing neither of them had ever enjoyed for long: peace.
“And lastly that it would please your Majestie to grant unto your said subject under your most gracious hand of signet free liberty during her life to invade with sword and fire all your highness’ enemy’s wheresoever they are or shall be without any interruption of any person or person whatsoever. Thus shall you said subject, according to her bounden duty, ever remain in all obedient allegiance to resist all remnants of rebellious enemies and pray continually for your Majesty’s long life and prosperous reign.”
The tenor of this letter is so humble and conciliatory that it does not seem that it could have been written by the fearless pirate herself, but piracy was by its very nature deceptive and Granuaile was a master of diplomacy. The problem was that the ships carrying mail to England sailed very slowly, while events in Ireland moved at a much quicker pace. Before the letter could reach the queen, Bingham, who famously referred to Granuaile as the “nurse to all rebellions in the province for forty years”, arrested Tibbott and accused him of burning his home and killing his men. Granuaile knew that her son was unlikely to receive a fair trial and even less likely to survive a conviction, so she decided to go to London herself and talk to the Queen in person.
The meeting between the two queens was quite an enlightening experience for each. Making sure Elizabeth realized she considered herself an equal, Granuaile refused to bow to the English Queen, symbolic of the fact that Elizabeth was not Queen of Ireland and thus not her queen. One colorful account claims Granuaile even walked into the meeting with a dagger on her. According to Chambers:
“As a meeting of two queens of equal standing, when the two women were introduced Elizabeth held out her hand, but Granuaile being the taller of the two, the English queen was forced to raise her hand to the Irish ‘queen.’ It was perceived there during the course of their meeting Granuile required a handkerchief and Elizabeth took from her pocket a lace-edged one of fine cambric. Upon using it, Granuaile threw it into the nearby fire, bringing the surprised retort from Elizabeth that it was meant to be put in her pocket. Equally surprised, Granuaile told the queen that in Ireland they had a higher standard of cleanliness. When Elizabeth offered to confer her with the title of countess, Granuaile is said to have declined the offer on the basis that a title could not be conferred on one of equal status. When Elizabeth bemoaned the cares of royalty, looking around her sumptuous surroundings, Granuaile witheringly told her ‘that the poor women in Mayo had greater cares and greater industry to their credit’ than the queen of England.”
By the time Granuaile was finished speaking with the queen, she had received Elizabeth’s personal promise that her son’s case would be looked into. In the meanwhile, Bingham had heard of the meeting and was regularly sending letters to Elizabeth trying to persuade her to see matters his way. He failed, however, and in September 1593 Elizabeth instructed him to free Tibbott and his men and to return their lands. She further ordered that money should be deducted from their taxes and given to Granuaile for her upkeep.
These orders enraged Bingham who, though he had to follow them in the letter of the law, had no intention of giving Granuaile one ounce more of support than he was required to. He continued to harass her and her kinsmen at every opportunity, forcing her to make another visit to London the following year to seek relief once again. Elizabeth granted her the relief she sought again, but this time there were requirements made of Granuaile too. Over the remaining years of her life, Granuaile and her family would become increasingly supportive of the English representatives in Ireland.
Though Granuaile herself was still practicing some limited plundering as late at 1601, she was no longer involved in Ireland’s fight against England. While the date of her death is uncertain, it definitely represented the end of an era when the last surviving Gaelic chieftain was buried quietly on some green Irish hill.
Since her death, Granuaile has long been remembered as a pirate, but she lived over a century before the “Golden Age of Piracy” made men like Blackbeard famous and created the stereotypes that modern societies remember pirates by. Pirates continue to be romanticized as people who have lived outside the boundaries of normal societies and refused to play by the rules, and nowhere is this more evident than the continuing interest in the pirates of centuries past. As the subjects of books, movies, and even theme park rides, people continue to let their imaginations go when it comes to pirates, with buried treasure, parrots, and walking the plank all ingrained in pop culture’s perception of them.
While that explains some of the reasons Granuaile’s life and legacy continue to resonate, she was clearly a different kind of woman altogether. Far from being a member of an unprivileged class seeking to steal booty from any ship she could, Granuaile was both a queen and a rebel who defiantly fought to protect her home and way of life against the English. Naturally, while foreigners might remember her as a pirate and one of many famous rebels opposing the English over the centuries, Ireland has remembered her as a folk hero, and she has become the subject of all the poetry, songs, plays, and movies that come along with such a standing. 19th century writer James Hardiman may have summed up Granuaile’s legacy the best when he wrote, “Her name has been frequently used by our Bards, to designate Ireland. Hence our Countrymen have been often called ‘Sons of old Grana Weal.’”
Bibliography
Chambers, Anne (2012) Granuaile: Grace O'Malley - Ireland's Pirate Queen
Cook, Judith (2004) Pirate Queen: The Life Of Grace O'Malley
Druett, Joan (2000). She Captains: Heroines and Hellions of the Sea
Gerstl, Hugo (2011) Amazing Grace: The Story of Grace O'Malley the Notorious Pirate Woman
Heyman, Richard (2012) The Cock and the Hen The Story of Grace O'Malley
Russell, Jesse and Ronald Cohn (2012) Grace O'Malley
Sjoholm, Barbara (2004) The Pirate Queen: In Search of Grace O'Malley and Other Legendary Women of the Sea
A
nne Bonny & Mary Read
Chapter 1: Mary Read’s Early Years
According to legend, Mary Read was born sometime between 1670-1698 in London, England. The sole contemporary account of her life, written anonymously by someone using the pseudonym Captain Charles Johnson, references Mary’s husband as having died sometime around the Peace of Ryswick, which ended the Nine Years War in 1697. If that was correct, Mary had to have been born in the 1670s. Some modern historians believe it’s more likely Mary’s husband died sometime after the Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713. That makes Mary’s date of birth more likely to be sometime around 1690.
Whatever the case, even from her earliest days of existence, Mary’s life was shaped by the sea and the men who sailed on it. Her mother appears to have married a sailor while she was still rather young and became pregnant, but after he returned to the sea word eventually came back to her that he had met with an accident and died. Before she had time to fully cope, she had given birth to her first child, a son.
With her husband dead, the young Mrs. Read was forced to depend on her wealthy mother-in-law for support. However, this plan quickly fell through when she met another young man, probably a sailor, and found herself pregnant again. She knew that if the older woman found out what had happened, she would be left with no support at all and probably lose custody of her son in the process. Thus, she left town for a place where she could continue to pass herself off as a tragic young widow. She may have planned to put her new baby up for adoption and then return to her mother-in-law as if nothing had happened, or she may have hoped that, with her new reputation as the tragic widowed mother, she could find a new husband.
History’s Famous Women Pirates: Grace O’Malley, Anne Bonny and Mary Read Page 3