Grainne O’Malley

Greg Jenner is joined in late antique Egypt by Professor Edith Hall and comedian Olga Koch to learn about the life of mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria.An important mathematical and astronomical thinker, Hypatia is best known today for her brutal death at the hands of Christian ...  Show more

Greg Jenner is joined in medieval England by Professor Marion Turner and comedian Mike Wozniak to learn all about Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales.Since the 15th century, Chaucer has been referred to as the father of English literature. He was one of the first aut ...  Show more

Grace O'Malley or Granuaile is an iconic name in Irish history. Born in 1530, she emerged as a powerful leader in the West of Ireland in ruthless and violent era as the Tudor reconquest of the Island was in full swing. Grace is often called a pirate queen, a chieftain or even ...

Grace O’Malley (c. 1530-1603) is known as the iconic, pirate queen of Ireland. She is remembered through folklore as a skilled ship captain, a notorious rebel against the English monarchy, and a fierce pirate. Further Reading Grace O'Malley: The Pirate Queen of Ireland The extrao ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests John Mullan, Karen O'Brien and Barbara Taylor discuss the life and ideas of the pioneering British Enlightenment thinker Mary Wollstonecraft.Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 into a middle-class family whose status steadily sank as her inept, brutal, dr ...  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