Grace O'Malley, an Irish 'Pirate Queen'

On Christmas Day 1929, postman Larry Griffin disappeared from Stradbally, Co. Waterford. His bicycle was found abandoned outside the village. While evidence suggested his disappearance was suspicious, the case became an enduring mystery. In this episode, I’m joined by Fachtna Ó D ...  Show more

Childhood in the past was hard, but how children were treated and what their lives were truly like is often left out of Irish history.In this episode historian Frank Hopkins joins me to look at the darkest corners of childhood in 18th and 19th century Ireland: the boys sold to ma ...  Show more

Gráinne Ní Mháille known as Grace O’Malley in English was raised aboard her father’s ships. Her charisma then won her the loyalty of her husband’s men. Together they traded and marauded the rouged west coast of Ireland. They feuded with other clans until the English came to take ...  Show more

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-droppin ...  Show more

Gráinne O'Malley (often known as Grace O'Malley) has gone down in history as The Pirate Queen. Born into the powerful, seafaring O'Malley clan in western Ireland, she took to the pirate's life at a young age. Basically, everything a woman wasn't supposed to do at the time, Gráinn ...  Show more

Grace O'Malley, or Gráinne Mhaol, has become an Irish folk hero, a woman who led a crew of men and galley ships and stood up to the English occupiers in Ireland. But it's her legendary meeting with Queen Elizabeth I—a moment of diplomacy—in England that has fascinated historia ...