Gráinne Ní Mháille, Pirate Queen of Connaught
In English, that’s Grace O’Malley. She was apparently a heck of a sailor, among other things:
This wonderful, yet ardous life on the sea, gave her great physical strength and vigor. Sydney, the Lord Deputy, who met her in 1576, described Gráinne when she must have been in middle age, as being “… famous for her stoutness of courage, and person and for sundry other exploits done by her at sea.” Whatever formal literary education Gráinne received in her youth, must have been from the Carmalite Friars on Clare Island. Although she was later married to two of the greatest chieftans in the West, it’s very likely that Gráinne knew and cared far more about rigging and sailing a galley and warfare than she ever did about drawing-room accomplishments.
I never heard this story while in Ireland—I saw some of a documentary on her yesterday. Apparently the patriarchal historians didn’t think she was an appropriate female figure in Irish history. Of course, I never asked anybody: “Hey, do you have any famous female pirates?”
Incidentally, Gráinne is pronounced GRAW-nya. It is one of many Irish names that take some getting used to. Other favourites for women include:
- Aoife
- Áine
- Niamh
- Sorcha
- Dearbháil
If I’ve got the right name, I believe that last one is pronounced Dervil. With apologies to all those sweet colleens so named, it’s not the most poetic of first names.
Comments
Heather said:
Any idea how to pronounce "muirnait"? I read it in a book and liked it, but have never heard it out loud so don't know how it sounds.
December 3, 2003 02:11 AM