Grace O'Malley

Grace O'Malley was born in Ireland around 1530, whose father and family were based in Clew Bay, County Mayo. The O'Malleys were one of the few seafaring families on the west coast, and they built a row of castles facing the sea to protect their territory.

O'Malley wished to go on a trading expedition to Spain with her father but was refused. Extremely upset when her father refused to take her on a sailing trip, legend has it that Grace cut off all her hair and dressed in boys’ clothes to prove to her parents that she could handle the trip and live a seafarer's life. Seeing this, her father and brother laughed aloud and nicknamed her "Grainne Mhaol" meaning "Bald Grace" (which is believed to have led to her nickname "Granuaile.") Eventually, through her persistence, she was allowed to go to sea with her father and his fleet of ships.

As a child, Grace often sailed with her father on trading missions overseas. Once, upon returning from a trip to Spain, their ship was attacked by an English vessel. Grace had been instructed by her father to hide below deck if they ever were attacked, but she did not heed his advice. Instead she climbed up onto the sail rigging. Watching the battle from above, she noticed an English pirate sneaking up on her father, raising a dagger behind his back! The brave Granuaile leapt off of the rigging, through the air and onto the pirate's back.... screaming all the while! The distraction this caused was enough for the O'Malleys to regain control of the ship and defeat the English pirates.

She spent her young life learning the ways of the sea and grew to be quite the sailor--eventually having her own fleet of ships. The O'Flahertys were a seafaring people, much like the O'Malleys, so Grace was right at home with their clan. Over the course of their marriage, Grace learned more about seafaring from Donal and his clan and added to her knowledge of sailing and trading at sea. Grace was soon in charge of the O'Flaherty fleet of ships and ruled the waters surrounding their lands. Although it was unusual for a woman to lead men, Grace earned the respect of all who followed her through her shrewdness as well as her knowledge of sailing and bravery at sea. Her husband, Donal, had a reputation for being quite a "hot head" and his temper eventually cost him his life in battle against a rival clan. They were married for a total of nineteen years.

According to Irish law, widows were entitled to a portion of their husbands estates. But for some reason, the O'Flahertys did not follow this tradition. Grace was forced to rely on the O'Flaherty clan for support. She did not like this, so she set out on her own, taking with her a loyal group of followers and traded on the seas to earn her own way. She used what she learned from her father in her youth and from her husband and eventually was able to break away from the O'Flaherty Clan altogether. Grace moved back with the O'Malley clan bringing her followers with her -- Grace had become a Chieftain in her own right and the heir as Chieftain of the O'Malley clan.

In equally as political a move, Grace married her second husband, Richard Burke in an effort to strengthen her hold on the west coast area of Ireland. Since the death of Donal, she had built her empire to include five castles and several islands in Clew Bay, but needed Rockfleet castle in the northeast side of the bay to complete her stronghold on the area.

Legend has it that Grace travelled to the Castle Rockfleet, knocked on the door and proposed marriage to Richard for a period of one year. She explained that the union would enable both clans to withstand the impending invasion by the English (who were slowly taking over the Irish lands around them.) It is believed that after exactly one year, Grace said to Richard, "I release you," apparently offering him the option to end the marriage, but he must have really fallen in love with Granuaile, because they remained married until he died some seventeen years later.

Grace had a total of four children. Donal and Grace had three children, 2 boys and 1 girl. Their sons were Owen and Murrough and daughter Margaret. Later, when Grace married Richard, they had a son, Tibbot (or Theobald). In 1593, after many difficult years fighting against the English and the capture of her brother and son by English forces, No one really knows why Queen Elizabeth agreed to meet with Grace (let alone why she did not have her executed or imprisoned). Grace was fluent in Latin and thus was able to converse freely with the Queen. Grace explained that her actions in the past were not rebellion but rather acts of self-defense. She told of how her rightful inheritance from both husbands' deaths were wrongfully withheld from her and asked for them to be returned. She also asked for the release of her son and brother. In return for all of this, Grace agreed to use her strength and leadership to defend the Queen against her enemies by land and by sea.

The Queen agreed and Grace returned to Ireland and demanded Bingham release her son and brother and return her assets by order of the Queen. Bingham did release the two captives, but never did restore Grace her rightful possessions.

One interesting story is also worth noting. This allegedly occurred during Grace's meeting with the Queen in England. It is said that during the meeting, Grace sneezed in the presence of the Queen and her lords and ladies. A member of the court, in an act of politeness, handed Grace an attractive and expensive lace handkerchief. She took the delicate cloth and proceeded to blow her nose loudly then tossed the kerchief into a blazing fireplace. The members of the court were aghast that she would be so rude to toss an expensive gift so easily into the fire. The Queen then scolded her and said that the handkerchief was meant as a gift and should have been put into her pocket. Grace replied that the Irish would never put a soiled garment into their pocket and apparently had a higher standard of cleanliness. After a period of uncomfortable silence, (during which the members of the court expected the Queen to have Grace executed for her rude behavior) nervous then roaring laughter followed. The Queen was amused.

海盗格雷斯

1530年，格雷斯·欧玛蕾出生在爱尔兰当地一座城堡中，她从小就崇拜自己的船长父亲，十来岁时就立志加入父亲的船队，她剪掉头发，穿上男装随父亲出海，大家还给她取了个绰号“秃头格雷斯”。一天，他们的船遭遇了英国海盗，有人想从背后偷袭格雷斯的父亲，父亲交代她藏到甲板下，但在危急关头，格雷斯却爬上了船桅，尖叫着荡过半空，落在海盗身后将其打倒，父亲得救了，海战也打赢了。

后来格雷斯嫁入富裕的O'Flaherty家族，脾气暴躁头脑发热的丈夫Donal在一次家族战争中身亡，按照爱尔兰习俗，她可以继承丈夫的遗产，但不知什么原因O'Flaherty一家并没有按照习俗办事，格雷斯只好求助于族人力量的支持从丈夫那里继承了三艘船只个一些水手。后来，她凭借着从父亲和丈夫那里学到的航海知识和技能，独立航海，渐渐脱离了O'Flaherty家族，带着她的随从回到了O’Malley家族中。格雷斯很快拥有了一个欣欣向荣的海盗帝国，她控制了西港附近的克鲁湾(Clew Bay)及五座城堡。

据说她在一年内主动多次登门向Richard求婚，目的是为了同他进行政治联姻，加强东北海岸的海防，扩大势力抵抗外侵。终于Richard答应了她的求婚。他们结婚一年后，格雷斯对Richard说“你被释放了”，意思是如果Richard愿意就可以结束他们的婚姻了。但Richard很有可能爱上了格雷斯，因为他们的婚姻一直持续到他去世为之。

一次航海中，英国人抓走了她的儿子和弟弟，她马上远航至英国，去觐见海盗时代另一位伟大的女人----伊丽莎白女王。格雷斯不会英文，凭一口流利的西班牙语和女王交谈自如。她请求女王释放她的亲人，并承诺用海盗战术帮女王打退敌军。传说格雷斯说完后打了个大喷嚏，女王的侍臣递给她一块绣工精致的名贵手帕，擤完鼻涕后，格雷斯毫不在意地将手帕丢进了燃烧的壁炉。侍臣目瞪口呆，等待着她为自己的粗鲁无礼付出代价。而女王只是温和地责备说，她应该将手帕放进口袋。 格雷斯答说，爱尔兰人从不把脏东西放入口袋，才能更好地保持清洁，女王笑了，然后应允了她的请求。

六十岁的格雷斯还在当海盗，七十岁离世时已经富甲一方， 并成为后世众多女性的偶像。格雷斯一生有四个孩子，同第一任丈夫结婚后育有两男一女，和第二任丈夫结婚后生有一男。在爱尔兰西点庄园(Westpoint House)，你可以参观了庄园的地牢，那里布置的像一个海盗之家，房间里摆满了百宝箱、海盗旗、白兰地酒桶、弯刀、燧发枪和一些有趣的化妆镜。你可以听格雷斯·欧玛蕾的第14代重孙给你讲解他们祖先海盗格雷斯的故事。