August Books 20) Granuaile: Grace O'Malley - Ireland's Pirate Queen, by Anne Chambers

[nwhyte]

A fascinating account of a shadowy historical figure of varying spellings, an exact contemporary of Elizabeth I, who appears to have used her own resources to prey on shipping along the Atlantic seaboard of Ireland; it's difficult to be sure what is fact and what is fiction - did she really give birth on board one of her own ships, and then a few

Comments

[inulro]

Sounds interesting; I'll have to look out for that.

[ext_682125]

My favourite spelling of her name is Granye O Malye.

I think she's fairly low down in the ranks of significant Irish people of that age. And no, she's not a feminist icon - just an aristocrat trying to preserve her privileges from the central government.

Her access to the court in London was a symptom of disaffection from the Dublin government - a bit like modern corporations lobbying Washington or Brussels. She was preceded there in the 1560s by all the major gaelic chieftains - fat lot of good it did them.

[nwhyte]

You've made a really bad impression on me by coming into what is effectively my online front room without introducing yourself, and posting what are almost trollish comments about climate change and Irish history.

If you want to change that, I'm looking for genuine information on the Elizabethan court and its attitude to Irish chieftains, and would appreciate any real sources.

[ext_682125]

I'm not much of a livejournal user, so hadn't spotted this reply until now. Thought your blog was interesting, a bit unquestioning.

So long.