Gráinne Mhaol Ní Mháille, or Grace O'Malley, the sea queen of western Connacht, was "much feared everywhere by sea"(Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.30). Dubhdara(Blackoak) O'Malley, chief ruler of Umhall Uachtarach and Margaret, Conchobhair, mic Maoilseachlain O'Malley reared their only daughter to rule "o'er hardy sailors and great men"(Chambers, Anne,1998, p.30).

The Cistercian Abbey on Clare Island was patronised by her ancestors in the 13^th Century.

St. Brigid's Abbey, Clare Island

By 1584 the said Abbey was associated with Abbeyknockmoy, when it was listed among its possessions (Stalley, Roger, 1987, p.243). Many years later, Thady O'Malley, commissioned the 15^th Century Augustinian friars in Murrisk. Obviously, such a strong connection with the Cistercian and Augustinian order would have benefited the powerful O'Malley clan both spiritually and politically. (Chambers, Anne, 1998, pp.29-30, 52)

Born in 1530 Grace O'Malley was possibly baptized, married and buried at the abbey on Clare Island. (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.55) Grace may have passed her childhood at the family residencies of Belclare and Clare Island. Her father, Owen (Dubhdara) O`Malley funded both the abbeys on Clare Island and in Murrisk. The Cistercian monks would have certainly influenced his daughter’s education. Her five petitions to and conversation with Queen Elizabeth I^st in June1593 proved that she understood Latin. This is surprising as the Irish monks were ridiculed throughout this century for illiteracy and their sacrilegious behaviour(Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.45). Grace was equally well versed in English. Her conversation in 1577 with the poet-courtier, Sir Philip Sydney is evidence of this. (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.52)

Grace's ability to communicate by vigour preceded her mastery of foreign languages. Legend portrays her as the Sea Queen who carried the appropriate motto "Terra Mariq Potens"(powerful by land and sea). For decades, with her small fleet of ships, she conquered the western lands of Ireland and battled even as far as the shores of Scotland (O`Hogain, Daithi, 1994, p.318). Her career spanned from the supremacy to the suppression of Gaelic rule. Folklore conveys her alliances with English forces, her imprisonment in the goals of Limerick and Dublin, and her partial submission to Elizabeth I^st, Queen of England. Her actions were brave attempts to uphold her government over her fast retreating Gaelic kingdoms.

Grace was born into a century of a turbulent and changing Ireland (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.39). The land was divided into 60 counties, ruled by 60 chieftains, her father being one of these chieftains. The impact of the Anglo-Norman arrival of the 12^th Century vanished within the predominant native Irish culture. Only in Dublin and the surrounding area, the Pale, was the presence of the Crown truly enforced (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.39). In time the English Crown would eventually penetrate Grace’s Gaelic society.

King Henry VIII’s Reformation of 1539 and his policy of Surrender and Regrant, (a policy whereby the Gaelic chief would surrender his lands to the crown in exchange for a royal title; a more peaceful and less expensive means of conquering Ireland) succeeded under the effective command of Queen Elizabeth I^st. The decaying society into which Grace was born was a patriarchal society. Within this society access to education and any career was limited to women. Grace’s role as wife and mother was simply expected. Grace gaining notoriety as the most feared pirate of the Atlantic Ocean must have seemed ludicrous.

Obviously, Grace’s success on the sturdy sea was incongruous with her expected role in society (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.51). Accordingly Grace’s achievements have been reduced to myth and legend. It was possibly the absurdity of such a powerful woman that encouraged the male scholars to exclude her activities from the Annals of the Four Masters (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.30).

At the tender age of 16 Grace married her first husband, Donal O`Flaherty from an allied clan of Iar Connaught. Donal’s clan motto was "Fortuna Favet Fortibus" (Fortune favours the bold). Together they had three children, Margaret, Murrough-ne-mor and Owen. Donal died c.1560-7, and left Grace a poor widow. It was from his death that she progressed on her career of piracy. She proclaimed herself that her escapades were merely "maintenance by land and sea"(Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.65).

Following her second marriage to Sir Richard Burke, Grace operated from two military strongholds. The first is Carraig an Chabhlaigh castle, on Clew Bay. The second, is the extant castle located on the harbour, approximately 1.5 kms from the abbey, on Clare Island. This castle was strategically located to levy taxes on foreign sea vessels.

Nearing the end of the 16th Century Grace had to combat against the skirmishing Gaelic clans and the new conquering English. She raised her children and her only son of Burke, Tibot na Long, to be dynamic and brave as she. Legend has it that once upon seeing the cowardice of Tibot during battle she decreed "Are you trying to hide in my backside, where you came from?"(O`Hogain, Daithi, 1994, p.318)

Grace O'Malley's autonomy and proficiency was extenuated through her alliances in crown, military, marriage and kin. In 1342, two centuries before Grace's birth, her Gaelic family had already made allies with the de Burgos, an Anglo-Norman family. (Chambers, Anne, 1998, p.16). From her two marriages she took strongholds and military supporters. In 1593 her visit to London worked to her advantage. The Queen granted Grace a restraining order from one of her deadliest English rivals, Sir Richard Bingham.