When Ireland Had a Pirate Queen

Ebbs of History · Jun 4, 2026 · 29m · transcript

Dive into the wild world of 16th‑century Ireland, where a fierce mother‑captain named Grace O'Malley defied kings, gave birth on a ship, and fought off pirates the next day—proving that history’s fiercest rebels can also be moms.

Sources:

Chambers, Anne. Granuaile: Grace O'Malley — Ireland's Pirate Queen c. 1530–1603. Gill Books.

Wikipedia: Grace O'Malley — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_O'Malley

Royal Museums Greenwich: Grace O'Malley — https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/grace-o-malley-irish-female-pirate

Royal Museums Greenwich: Grace O'Malley, fact and fiction —…