If you were an English sailor in the 1500s, you did not want to encounter Grace O’Malley. The Irish “Pirate Queen” was a force to be reckoned with.
O’Malley’s family was influential in 16th-century Ireland: Her family ruled a large amount of Ireland’s west coast, and her family of merchants also collected taxes from those who fished along their territory’s shores. Their defensive fortresses, which dotted the coast of County Mayo, were crucial at a time when the English kept encroaching on Ireland.
O’Malley followed in the family footsteps. She ran a trade network to the Iberian peninsula and raided ships that entered her territory. She married young—and was widowed young. After her first husband was murdered, she moved to Clare Island, where she soon amassed her own faithful followers and continued leading raids. O’Malley attacked English ships, pilfering their cargo and even taking the vessels themselves. She was able to fend off an English fleet that attempted to shut her down, and after Crown forces imprisoned her son, she successfully negotiated his release with Queen Elizabeth I.
Grace O’Malley was a total badass, but it’s unlikely you learned about her in any of your history classes. In this week’s episode of The List Show, Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy is covering a number fascinating—yet largely overlooked—historical figures, from the first woman to circumnavigate the globe to the guy who gave us kitty litter.
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