Dr Kat and Grace O'Malley

hello and welcome back to the channel if you're new here hi you're very welcome this is reading the past and I'm dr. Kat and perhaps the title for this video clued you in on its topic we are talking about a warrior woman today this video was suggested in the comment section of my calc other video which I will be leaving linked up here and it was suggested by Ericka Lewis thank you so much for thinking of this fascinating woman as a subject for a video she is famous infamous and certainly mythologized for being islands pirate queen let's talk about grace o'malley so it is starting to feel somewhat repetitive but as with so many of the other female figures that I have looked at on this channel the early life of grace O'Malley or as she has known better in Ireland granule is so obscure we're not sure when she's born some people give as a date of birth circa 1530 and as a date of death circa 1603 we aren't sure when she's born and we aren't sure when she dies however these dates do make her a contemporary of Elizabeth the first indeed if we go by the 15:30 date then she is just three years older than her English contemporary what we do know of her early life is as follows her mother Margaret and father Owen were both members at the O'Malley family out of County Mayo albeit of course different branches of that family Owen her father was a chief Lord of the upper out in her mid-teens grace is married for the first time to Donald a flarty of the Khan Mara parties who resided in County Galway by him she had three children two sons Owen and Maura and a daughter Margaret presumably these children the eldest and the younger being named after her mother and father and so point and we aren't sure of the exact date brawny whale is widowed before remarrying with one Richard Burke he was the designated successor of MacWilliam Burke then chief of the Burke's of lower Connell County Mayo this second marriage brought another child Theobald audibled he was known as Toby of the ship's because apparently he was born to his mother while she was sailing indeed the day after his birth so the story goes the ship was attacked by Algerian pirates groaning yells men apparently went down to her cabin where they found her holding her newborn baby in her arms they begged her to come onto deck so that she might rally her men behind her so they could defend their ship against these aggressors it would seem the course of story that it worked because they did defend their ship and they sawed off the Algerian pirates granule is captaining her ship while pregnant laboring and then postpartum and this feels outstanding unusual and perhaps it is for her to be in this condition but why is she on board ship well she is known as Ireland's pirate queen but I think this requires some clarification Ronny whale comes from a seafaring family the O'Malley's and at this time in Ireland and also in the wider world I think it's important to remember that there is a very very fine line between various seafaring activities the overseas trader the privateer and the pirate are sometimes indistinguishable similarly if we look at Elizabeth England many of her explorers who she also called privateers would in the eyes of the Spanish be little more than pirates piracy or otherwise is it seems in the eye of the beholder what is clear from the records is that granny whale has access to an enormous fleet of ships they are quick agile and able to fight both in an aggressive attacking context but also defensively if necessary so now I've made a few it says to records about Grinnell and I'm going to unpack what I mean by that and also what these records say in a moment but to point out just where they sit in the historical timeline as I mention at the start of this video Ronnie whales date of birth is given as around 1530 this is something that her biographer and chambers agrees with and I will leave Chambers's book a link to it in the description box down below however in her Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry the author of that Mary O'Dowd does not give circa 1530 as a date of birth indeed she lists FL which means flourishing or arguably when she appears in the historical record and specifically the historical record as it is kept by the English government Mary O'Dowd lists this FL date as being between 1577 and 1597 so what happens in 1577 well this document is produced this document represents the first extant reference to brandy whale in the English record it is an account written by Sir Henry Sidney the then law deputy of Ireland to his London contact Sir Francis Walsingham Elizabeth's chief spymaster in this account he talks about meeting granule for the first time of their meeting he says the following they came to me also a most famous feminine sea captain called granny omalley and offered her services unto me wherever I would command her with three galleys and two hundred fighting men either in Scotland or in Ireland she brought with her her husband this we think refers to richard burke her second husband for she was as well by sea as by land well more than mrs. mate with him he also says this was a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland within weeks of this 1577 missive being penned it would appear that Ron ul is arrested by the Earl of Desmond Gerald Fitzgerald there is some reference made to her her fleet plundering his land he arrests her and keeps her incarcerated moving her all around Ireland and it seems she's not released until early 1579 after her release we think in the spring of 1579 braun UL sort of falls from the historical timeline or rather more appropriately she falls out of the english records that deal with her she does not reappear in these records and therefore into our view until 1586 we aren't sure what befalls her between 1579 and 1586 therefore however we do believe that in this time her second husband richard burke passes away we think in 1583 so what happens in 1586 that brings groan well back to england's attention and therefore for us back to the historical record of her well to understand that we have to hop back two years to 1584 at this time so Richard Bingham is made governor of Connaught Bingham was one of Lister soldiers in Ireland and we don't quite know what granule or her family thinks for Bingham but certainly for at least two years there is no overt uprising from granny well against Bingham this all changed in 1586 binghams brother his name is Vera C given as George or John he is a sea captain and in 1586 he is responsible for killing granules oldest son Owen clearly and perhaps understandably granny whale would be very distressed by this for Richard Bingham however he sees her as seeking vengeance and in 1586 and 1588 so Richard Bingham named Goneril as being involved in the Burke rebellions against him he also says that she is brilliant Scottish mercenaries to fight her cause and 1588 is a particularly tumultuous year in England it is the year of the Spanish Armada many people in Elizabeth government were very concerned that Ireland would be the perfect launching pad for a Spanish invasion of England during the Armada somebody bringing in mercenary Scottish or otherwise to disrupt English rule in the area therefore be viewed with suspicion distrust and of course a large amount of fear we must remember that at her birth Rael is born into a powerful family in County Mayor through her first marriage and the children born from ik she then has a vested interest in the goings-on in County Galway and equally in her second marriage to another powerful man from Council Mayo with a son being produced she has more interest there as the governor of Connell which includes mayo and Galway so which a Bingham has power over her interests the animosity that exists between Grinnell's family and Bingham is therefore concerning should Benham so choose he may jeopardize their futures their power and maybe even their physical safety he jeopardizes not only grown well but her children and it would seem that she felt the risk was getting too great in 1593 when she makes a particularly daring move between June and September 1593 grown UL was in England seeking an audience with Elizabeth the first and at some point in that time we believe July she succeeded and the two women met unsurprisingly this meeting is the stuff of myth and legend so much so that it's nearly impossible to say what exactly occurred apart from the fact that the meeting took place and that the two women spoke in Latin the reason for them conversing in Latin is also up for debate and discussion in her entry on renewal for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Mary O'Dowd asserts that this meeting had to take place in Latin because branya L could not speak English the common language she shared with Elizabeth was Latin and that is why they had to use it however her biographer and chambers states differently she is certain that granny well could speak and understand English and she says the following that she understood and spoke English as well as Gaelic is evidenced from her face-to-face meetings with notable statesmen of the period including when sessile Lord Burleigh Sir John Parrott Lord Henry Sydney his son the famous poet courtier soldiers Philip Sidney and with grima's that the first whom she met in Greenwich in 1593 and well and chambers makes a strong argument here all of the people that she lists absolutely could speak to understand Latin so the conversations that granny well is listeners having had with them could also have taken place in Latin so we can't be sure that she can speak understand English nevertheless in 1593 granny whale is in England preparing to meet Queen Elizabeth the first and here are some letters from July of 1593 around the time that we believe this meeting took place here we have grandmas petition to Queen Elizabeth the first about settling her claims to maintenance that is made in July 15 93 in it she defends her military might and activities saying by means of the continual discord stirs and dissension that heretofore long time remained among the Irish especially in West cannot by the seaside every chieftain for his safeguard and maintenance and for the defence of his people followers and country took arms by strong hand to make head against his neighbors which in like manner constrained your highness fun subject to take arms and by force to maintain herself and her people by sea and land the space of forty years past she goes on to talk about her marriages her children and the fact that she has been twice widowed she tells Elizabeth that it has yet to be determined quote 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 us decay and ruin essentially she is telling Elizabeth that she is willing to put up her arms and stopped fighting with her neighbours if Elizabeth can determine how much maintenance she is supposed to have from the lands of her husband's she is calling upon Elizabeth to determine her inheritance and therefore the inheritance of her children she wants her Queen to step in on her behalf to ensure their future security and safety also in July 1593 branya whale is present with 18 questions that she must answer for her queen the questions are as follows number one who was her father and mother number two who was her first husband number three what son she had by him what be their names and where they live number four what countries they have to maintain them with all five to whom they be married number six what kin was owed flarty her first husband to Samora o flarty that is here now at the court number seven to answer the like things for her second husband and for his sons and their livings number eight if you were to be allowed her dower or thirds of her husband's living of what value the state might be of number nine where upon the composition of Connaught there have been any provisions for the wives number ten whether it be not against the customs of Ireland for the wives to have more after the death of their husbands and they brought with them number eleven how she have had maintenance and living since her last husband's death number twelve of what kindred is water bur Fitz Tibbles and Shane Burke McCoy Allah to her son 13 what captains and countries like next her husband's possessions 14 who doth possess the House of Morris upon the seaside in Al O'Malley 15 what lands dost MacGibbon possess in that country 16 who doth possess the country named Cara Moore and Maine Connell 17 who doth possess the island of a kill and kill Castle 18 what kin was her last husband to water and Alec Burke granule answers the 18 questions and her responses are detailed in this document it's a relatively long document and I'm not going to go into the answer she gives here mostly because I've already talked about them much of what we know about her early life her parents her marriages have been drawn out of the answer she gives here we may not know her exact date of birth she may not be detailed in the historical record that we had before 1577 but at least the narrative that we do have is one that she has been able to shape and have at least a degree of control over Elizabeth the first was sufficiently charmed by granular their meeting that she granted what she asked for unfortunately once grown ul returned to Ireland it would seem that Sir Richard Bingham was keen to undermine the agreement that Elizabeth had made in April and May of 1595 granule was once again petitioning Elizabeth that she may have the relief she had been promised there is no recorded response in the seemingly unanswered petitions made by Kron ul in 1595 is it possible that Elizabeth is being dismissive that she made promises face to face two years previously that she never intended to follow through on well that's a little unfair I think because by 1595 it's possible that elizabeth is simply preoccupied with the massive rebellion being launched by Hugh O'Neill the Earl of Tyrone indeed to quell this rebellion Elizabeth sends her favorite the Earl of Essex and he spectacularly fails to put down the rebellion indeed his failure is one of the precipitating events to his ultimate fall and execution so I am not prepared to say that these seemingly unanswered petitions of 1595 is evidence the meeting between Queen lists first and granule in 1593 didn't go well I think it's entirely possible that they go unanswered and yet Elizabeth could still be impressed by granule and concerned by her plight grace o'malley granule famed and mythologized pirate queen of ireland is also clearly a skilled diplomat and negotiator who is at the same time not beyond using violence to get her way she is the daughter of leaders the wife of leaders and the mother of leaders but also clearly a leader in her own right both on land and at sea she manages ships men-at-arms and mercenaries and also controls her land she maintains the legacy for herself and the inheritance for her children she is absolutely involved in poetical activities and raiding but also profitable trade by sea yes she is a pirate but she is also so much more a woman of education and intellect who can move freely amongst her people her soldiers but also add Elizabeth's court to us unfortunately she will always be a little ephemeral we will always be seeing her mostly through somebody else's eyes so I'd love to know what you think of this video and what you think of the story of grace O'Malley grown you ale also if there's another warrior woman that you would like me to make another video on them please do let me know in the comment section down below or come and tell me over on my social media I'll leave the links in the description box follow me there and we can continue the conversation I do hope you've enjoyed this video and found it useful if you did then please let me know by hitting the thumbs up please also subscribe to my channel and click the bell icon so that YouTube tells you when I've next uploaded I hope you're gonna have a great day whatever you're doing and I look forward to speaking to you in my next video take care of yourselves bye bye for now [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Reading the Past

Views: 29,480

Rating: 4.9721923 out of 5

Keywords: Grace O'Malley, Granuaile, Elizabeth I, Ireland's Pirate Queen, Ireland, England, Education, Literature, Culture, History, Early Modern, Renaissance

Id: c9gAv_1fXb4

Length: 19min 17sec (1157 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 16 2019