Just Irish Music

Gráinne Mhaol’s Bold Defiance – The Pirate Queen of Connacht In the wild, wind-lashed west of Ireland, where cliffs plunge into a roaring Atlantic and the mountains seem carved by myth, one name has never faded from the storm: Gráinne Mhaol — the pirate queen, the sea captain, the rebel noblewoman. Known in English as Grace O’Malley, she lived in the 16th century, but her legend lives on, sharpened by time and carried in song, story, and stone. Gráinne Mhaol was no ordinary woman. Born around 1530 into the powerful Uí Mháille (O’Malley) clan of Clew Bay in County Mayo, she came of age in an Ireland torn between native Gaelic tradition and the encroaching power of the English Crown. The O’Malleys were seafarers, traders, and fierce defenders of their territory. Young Gráinne was said to have begged her father to take her on sea voyages. When told no — that her long hair was unfit for sailing — she famously cut it short, earning the nickname “Gráinne Mhaol,” meaning Gráinne the Bald ...

The Flight of the Earls – September 1607 A Turning Point in Irish History On a quiet September morning in 1607, a small ship slipped away from the shores of Lough Swilly in County Donegal. Aboard were Hugh O'Neill , Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell , Earl of Tyrconnell — two of the most powerful Gaelic lords in Ireland. With them were nearly one hundred family members, loyal followers, and retainers. They would never return. This event would become known as “The Flight of the Earls” — a departure that marked not only the end of an era, but the collapse of a centuries-old Gaelic order. With the sailing of that ship, Ireland lost her last native princes, and the door was thrown open for total English control. What followed was conquest, colonisation, and the slow dismantling of a civilisation rooted in language, law, custom, and clan. The End of Gaelic Ireland To understand the weight of the Flight, we must return to the years before it. The late 16th century was a time ...