In this episode, we dive into the legend and legacy of Ireland’s Pirate Queen: from her wild childhood as “Grace the Bald” to the rumors she gave birth on a ship and went back to battle within the hour. We chart her rise through maritime conquests, clan warfare, and a jaw-dropping face-to-face with the English queen herself. Along the way, we unpack the geopolitical tug-of-war between England and Ireland, and how Grace used her femininity—not in spite of it—as a strategic force in a man’s world.

Sources: 

Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: The Life and Times of Grace O'Malley. Gill & Macmillan, 2003.

Knox, H. T. “Grace O’Malley.” Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, vol. 4, no. 2, 1905, pp. 65–72. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44973429. Accessed 25 June 2025.

Maguire, Conor. “Grace O’Malley: The Queen of the West.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, vol. 32, no. 126, 1943, pp. 225–30. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30100558. Accessed 25 June 2025.

Ohlmeyer, Jane H. Making Ireland English: The Irish Aristocracy in the Seventeenth Century. Yale University Press, 2012.

Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: Ireland’s Pirate Queen. Gill Books, 2003.

Canny, Nicholas. Making Ireland British, 1580–1650. Oxford University Press, 2001.

McNeill, Mary. Grania: She-King of the Irish Seas. Irish University Press, 1972.

O’Dowd, Mary. A History of Women in Ireland, 1500–1800. Pearson Education, 2005.

Staton, Tracy. “Grace O’Malley: The Pirate Queen of Ireland.” Rebel Women, 1998.