Facts and FAQs
So, what REALLY happened?
We all know that a play can’t fully capture in a few hours what took decades to happen, and that dramatic
license is taken. So in The Pirate Queen what actually happened in real life, and what is “made up?” Here’s a
list of facts and FAQs about the people and events portrayed in The Pirate Queen. Warning: SPOILERS!
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Facts about Elizabeth Tudor
Facts about Grace O’Malley
Facts about Richard Bingham
Where did all of this actually take place?
Did the O’Malleys only have the one ship that was so awesome it actually bugged England that much?
Was Grace really a pirate?
What was Ireland like in the 16th Century?
Was Grace O’Malley really the only female Irish leader?
What are the Brehon laws Dubdhara mentions when Dónal and Grace are married?
Did the O’Malleys and the O’Flahertys get along, or were they enemies?
What’s going on when Grace says to Dónal “I dismiss you!”?
Did the O’Flaherty clan REALLY follow Grace back to Clew Bay?
Did Dónal really betray the Irish by allying himself with Bingham?
Why is England even bothering with Ireland if they think it’s so barbaric and backward?
What was England like in the 16th Century?
What’s the deal with Elizabeth’s clothes? Makeup?
Did it really take four women to get her dressed in the morning?
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Did Bingham really want to marry Queen Elizabeth?
Was Elizabeth really that flirty with the guys?
Did Elizabeth ever actually want to get married?
Were there really no maps of Ireland in the 16th Century? And what difference does that make
anyway?
Did Irish nobility actually turn in their crowns to Elizabeth?
What was the real reason Grace went to see Elizabeth?
What REALLY happened when they met?
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Facts about Elizabeth Tudor
The Coronation Portrait
The Pelican Portrait
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Queen of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, etc. More familiarly called “Good
Queen Bess.”
Born 7 September 1533 at Greenwich near London, England. Her father was Henry VIII, and
her mother was Anne Boleyn.
She became the 5th and last monarch in the Tudor dynasty. Her half-siblings, Mary and
Edward, had ruled before her.
Died 23 March 1603 at Richmond Palace.
Her first cousin, twice removed, James VI of Scotland became her successor, James I, and the
first of the Stuart dynasty.
Tudor symbols include the Tudor Rose, a combination of a red and white rose, symbolizing
how the Tudors ended the War of the Roses by unifying the two warring families.
Tudor colors were green and white.
In 1593, when she and Grace met, she was translating into English a popular Medieval Latin
work “The Consolation of Philosophy.” For fun.
Facts about Grace O’Malley
o Leader of the Clan O’Malley in northwestern Ireland
o Also known as Grania O’Malley, Granauile Ní Mháille, Gráinne O'Maly, Graney O'Mally,
Grainne Ní Maille, Granny ni Maille, Grany O'Mally, Grayn Ny Mayle, Grane ne Male, Grainy
O'Maly, and Granee O'Maillie.
o Born around 1530.
o Her father was Dubhdara O’Malley (say doov-DAW-rah) and her mother was Margaret
O’Malley. She was their only child, but she had a half-brother, Donal-na-Piopa whose father
was Dubdhara
o Married twice and had four children
 Married Dónal O’Flaherty (Dónal -an-Chogaidh Ó Flaithbheartaigh or Donal of the
Battles) in 1546 when she was about 16.
 Dónal died in battle fighting the Joyce clan. When the Joyces attacked again
after his death, Grace defended the castle, leading her husband’s men. The
castle is to this day named the Hen’s Castle, after her, she being the Hen who
defended it.
 She had three children with him
o Owen (Eoghan) – murdered by George Bingham, Richard Bingham’s
brother
o Margaret (Méadhbh) – her only daughter, who eventually married a
man called The Devil’s Hook.
o Murrogh (Murchadh) – Grace attacked him when, in an effort to
defeat a rival Irish family, he allied himself with Bingham. In The Pirate
Queen, Dónal is shown doing what his son actually did. In response to
Murrogh’s treachery with Bingham, Grace “burned his towen and
spoiled his people of their cattayle and goods and murdered 3 or 4 of
his men which offered to make resistance.”
 Married Richard-an-Iarainn (or Richard in Iron) Bourke sometime in her 30s
 This union lasted for nearly twenty years.
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She had one child with him: Theobald Bourke, Tibbot-ne-Long or Toby of the
Ships. The story is that Grace gave birth to him aboard ship one day before
Algerian pirates attacked. Grace participated in the battle, firing at least one
shot and rallying her men.
Some of the places where stories say she attacked successfully: Curradh Castle, Inishbofin,
Aran Islands, Kilmurvey Bay, Burtonport, Killybegs, Lough Swilly, O’Loughlin Castle, Doona
Castle
In her late 40s, Grace was imprisoned for 2 years in Ireland (Askeaton, then Limerick gaol, then
Dublin Castle) after attacking the Earl of Desmond in Thomond. The reason for her release is
unknown. Later, she was imprisoned by Richard Bingham and released upon the promise of
her son-in-law, the Devil’s Hook.
After the 1593 meeting with Elizabeth, Grace continued to actively sail and raid around
England, Ireland and Scotland. Life at sea was a harsh one for anyone of any age. She was in
her 60s!
Died probably in 1603 and probably at Rockfleet Castle
The O’Malley motto is Terra marique potens, Powerful on sea and land.
The O’Malley emblem is a Boar.
Facts about Richard Bingham
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Lived from 1528 to 1599
A small man, known as the Flail of Connaught, for his cruelty to the Irish.
In 1584, at the age of 56, he was appointed by Elizabeth to be the governor of Connaught
under Sir John Perrot as Lord Deputy of Ireland. Perrot was the good cop, Bingham the bad
cop. Perrot wasn’t nearly so brutal as Bingham. Bingham, on the other hand, said of the Irish
that they “were never tamed with words but with swords.”
Bingham was disliked by his fellow English. Perrot, the Lord Deputy, said “this man Bingham is
shameless.”
His methods were brutal, but normal for the time. They included murder, imprisonment,
destroying property etc.
 At one point in the 1580s, he captured and imprisoned Grace, along with various
others of her relatives and followers, took their cattle and other property. He
summarily executed four of her fellow captives, but set Grace free on the pledge of
her son-in-law.
o Bingham was put on trial for his treatment of the Irish but acquitted and sent back to
Connaught.
o In 1593, Bingham captured an adult Tibbot (Grace’s son by her second husband) and held him
under (perhaps trumped up) charges of treason. Bingham had also captured Grace’s halfbrother and charged him with murder. Considering Bingham’s past actions, both were likely to
be executed. Bingham’s brother had already killed Grace’s oldest son, Owen. This
combination, along with other political and economic situations, is what prompted Grace to
appeal directly to Elizabeth.
o In The Pirate Queen, the portrayal of Bingham as a trusted advisor could be a combination of
the real Bingham and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex. Essex was the celebrated favorite of
Queen Elizabeth who expected, and frequently got, lavish treatment from her – some
beneficial, some harmful. She ordered him to subdue Ireland, and sent him there with 10,000
men to put down the rebellion. It was the largest military force ever sent to Ireland. He turned
out not only to be an ineffective military leader, but a traitorous one as well. Elizabeth
executed him in 1601.
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Where did all of this actually take place?
o The O’Malley clan controlled land and sea on the northwest coast of Ireland in County Mayo.
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Clew Bay - a bay in the northwest of Ireland and the home base for the O’Malley clan. “Clews”
are the lower corners of a sail.
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Rockfleet - The name of castle on the coast of Clew Bay. Also known as Carraigahowley Castle.
It originally belonged to Grace’s second husband, but she took it over and probably died there.
Belclare –A small town in northwest Ireland, about 45 miles south of Clew Bay and about 18
miles north of Galway.
Twelve Bens – A mountain range with twelve peaks, in Connemara about 40 miles south of
Clew Bay.
Elizabeth’s Court – the script never mentions exactly where Elizabeth’s court is located,
because it moved. A lot. Usually to different locations up and down the Thames (say tems)
river. This was largely for the very practical purpose of cleaning up after hundreds of people
living in one place without indoor plumbing, flush toilets or supermarkets.
Elizabeth and Grace met at Greenwich (say GREN-itch) palace in September 1593.
Did the O’Malley’s only have the one ship that was so awesome it actually bugged England that much?
o No. They had a lot of ships.
o Grace commanded a fleet of up to twenty ships. It probably consisted mostly of galleys.
o A galley is a long, low, usually single decked ship propelled by oars and sails, used especially in
ancient and medieval times. O’Malley ships probably had one mast and at least 30 oars. They
did not have wheels at the helm to steer. In fact, no ships had wheels at the time. They used
tillers or whipstaffs. Ships wheels were invented in the 17th century.
o Women on board a ship really were considered back luck for at least two reasons: (1) they
were thought too weak to help with the intense labor required for running a sailing ship and
(2) they would be a distraction to the men.
o Ship christenings involving naming and pouring wine really were a thing. Ceremonies
surrounding the launching of ships have existed since ancient times, usually requesting aid and
blessing from the divine. Christian ceremonies included pouring out wine from elaborate
goblets. The Irish were very Catholic and so would have followed suit with traditional Christian
ceremonies.
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Was Grace really a pirate?
o Yes, sort of.
o The O’Malley fleet fished, ferried Scottish gallowglass mercenaries and conducted legitimate
trade – none of which are piratical in nature. However, the O’Malleys DID attack ships from
other countries and clans. Whether they were pirates is a matter of perspective.
o A pirate is one who commits robbery, kidnapping, or other criminal violence at sea. If one has
the legal authority to do what one is doing, then it cannot be criminal. So, in Elizabethan
times, whether a person was a pirate depended a lot on whose side the “pirate” was on. For
example, to the Spanish, Francis Drake, the first Englishman to sail around the world, was a
confirmed pirate who raided Spanish shipping and colonies mercilessly. To the English, he was
a hero legally justified in what he did because Queen Elizabeth gave him permission to do it.
She gave him letters of marque, making him a privateer, with permission to attack the Spanish
as he willed.
o The English thought Grace O’Malley a pirate. She did not have authority from the English
crown to stop ships and exact tribute. Also, anything the O’Malleys took, they kept for
themselves, just like pirates. But the O’Malleys had never submitted to English authority and
considered themselves the governors of the land and sea on which they lived. So they could
have been simply enforcing a tax on ships fishing off the O’Malley coasts or attacking enemies
of their state.
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What was Ireland like in the 16th Century?
o There were basically three kinds of inhabitants in Ireland: the native Irish, the English, and
then the Anglo-Irish – the colonizing English families who had been there so long they were
practically Irish
o The O’Malleys and the O’Flahertys were native Irish. Bingham was English. His armies were a
mixture of English and Anglo-Irish
o The native Irish were Gaelic and their families had been on the island for millennia. They lived
in large family clans, led by an elected chieftain. Until Tudor times, the clans were the most
powerful governing bodies through most of Ireland, except around Dublin.
o The chieftains and their families lived in castles, square towers four or five stories tall. The
upper apartments were where the family lived with open fireplaces and whitewashed walls.
The lower levels were for storage.
o The poorer sorts, which were most of the people, lived in beehive shaped huts, with low
doors, no windows and a hole in the roof to let out smoke. They lived closely with their
animals.
o Oatmeal in various forms was the most commonly consumed food. Other popular foods,
particularly if you were rich, were beef, mutton, venison, poultry, cabbage, onions, garlic,
watercress, leeks, salmon, herring and shellfish. Buttermilk, whiskey, ale, wine and mead were
popular drinks. Forks were a rarity in both England and Ireland.
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The Irish way of dressing and doing their hair was radically different from the English – and the
English thought it savage. The classic Irish hair style was called the glib and included heavy
bangs that would cover the forehead and eyes. We don’t show that on our stage because it
really does make it hard to see an actor’s face.
o There were few roads and bridges. Most settlements were along the coast or navigable rivers.
o The Irish clans would often fight between themselves and frequently preferred fighting other
clans to uniting together against the English.
o In the sixteenth century, Ireland was divided into as many as “… sixty counties … where
reigneth sixty chief captains … that liveth only by the sword and obeyeth to no other temporal
person but only to himself that is strong. And every of the said captains maketh war and
peace for himself and holdeth by the sword and hath imperial jurisdiction within his room and
obeyeth to no other person, English or Irish, except only to such persons as may subdue him
by the sword.” The lack of a centralized ruling government is ultimately what made Ireland
unable to fight off the English.
o The only part of Ireland truly controlled by the English was Dublin and its surrounds, called the
Pale.
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Was Grace O’Malley really the only female Irish leader?
o Ancient Ireland was familiar with strong female leaders. The name of the country comes from
the mother-goddess Eriu or Eire, one of three legendary goddesses who ruled the
country. Irish folk stories are filled with women leading and fighting. Celts had military leaders
of both sexes. Heroic Celtic men often used their mother’s name instead of a
patronymic. Christianity came to Ireland in the 5th century, along with Roman laws and
traditions, including the tradition of the lower position of women in society. As Roman laws
gained influence, it became law that a woman could not be a chieftain. So Grace was singular
in her day for being a female war lord. And in another way, she was a return to a long lost
tradition.
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What are the Brehon laws Dubdhara mentions when Dónal and Grace are married?
o The ancient Irish laws. The English thought they were barbaric and needed to be stamped out.
o Some of the barbaric things the English didn’t like were things that today we think are
awesome – like electing your leaders and women owning property. A short list of radically
different Brehon laws:
 A woman didn’t have to change her name when she got married.
 She owned her own property.
 Divorce was legal – and could be effected by saying “I dismiss you” three times.
 Trial marriages were common - Grace’s second marriage to Richard an Iarainn began
as a trial marriage for one year, but their union lasted for about 20. She was “well
more than Mrs. Mate with him.”
 The dowry was re-fundable upon divorce.
 The Irish elected leaders. The heir, or Tánaiste, was chosen by the people during the
chieftain’s lifetime. The heir was not necessarily the oldest son – as it would be in
English law. It would generally be a male member of the current chieftain’s family:
brother, nephew, any son. As a result of the influence of Christianity and Roman
inspired laws, women were not allowed to be chieftain. Dónal was the elected
tánaiste (heir) in the O’Flaherty clan by Gaelic law.
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Did the O’Malleys and the O’Flahertys get along, or were they enemies?
o They actually got along as well as any Irish clans could. There were frequent marriages to form
alliances between clans. Both of Grace’s marriages were politically advantageous for the
O’Malley clan.
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What’s going on when Grace says to Dónal “I dismiss you!”?
o Those are the formal words of divorce in Brehon law.
o Of course, when the real Grace said those words, she didn’t speak English. She probably said
something more like “Liom a bhriseadhtú.” Reputedly, she did say that to her second
husband, Richard-in-Iron, after the trial period for their marriage ended. However, they were
still together nearly 20 years later.
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Did the O’Flaherty clan REALLY follow Grace back to Clew Bay?
o Yes. But it wasn’t for her father’s funeral. She went back to Clew Bay after Dónal died in
battle, and she was going home. They followed her because their next leader, Dónal, had died
and Grace was such an awesome leader. They could have chosen another leader, but they
chose to follow Grace.
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Did Dónal really betray the Irish by allying himself with Bingham?
o No.
o But his son, Murrogh, did.
o Grace attacked Murrogh when, in an effort to defeat a rival Irish family, he allied himself with
Bingham. In response to Murrogh’s treachery with Bingham, Grace “burned his towen and
spoiled his people of their cattayle and goods and murdered 3 or 4 of his men which offered to
make resistance.”
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Why is England even bothering with Ireland if they think it’s so barbaric and backward?
o In the 12th century, four separate Irish kingdoms were fighting each other, kind of paired up
two on two. Dermot Murrough, who wanted to be king of Leinster, lost and was exiled. He
went to the King of England, Henry II, to ask for help. Henry sent out Richard Earl of
Pembroke, aka Strongbow, who turned out to be a bigger bully to the Irish than the Irish were
to each other. He brought an army of about 1,200 men, including armor and archers. This is
like the Starship Enterprise attacking stone age people. Strongbow gets to be king of Leinster
and then takes over Dublin in September 1170. (Side note: Dublin doesn’t rule itself again
until 1922.) Back in England, Henry doesn’t like Strongbow being all kingly, so he brings his
own army of about 4,500 men on 400 ships. So nearly all of the Irish clans give up and say
“you win” without really fighting. They submit to England. Henry II is now Lord of Ireland, and
England claims to rule it for the next – well – it still rules part of the island.
o In the 1500s, Henry VIII gets himself declared king of Ireland, partly as a response to religious
and political differences between himself and Rome and Ireland. He adopts as the arms of
Ireland a gold harp with silver strings on a blue field. Henry tried subduing England by a
system called “surrender and re-grant.”
o During Elizabeth’s reign the threat from Ireland wasn’t the Irish directly. It was the Spanish.
Ireland (a Catholic kind of place) would be a great base for Spain (another Catholic kind of
place) to attack England (a NOT Catholic kind of place). It became of paramount importance to
ensure Irish loyalty, by any means necessary, in order to prevent being surrounded on the
north and the south by Spain.
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What was England like in the 16th Century?
o England was ruled by a monarchy and Parliament. In theory the monarch was the source of
power, but in practice the local nobility and Justice of the Peace had more control over day to
day life. As communication and travel became easier, the power of the monarch increased.
Elizabeth was one of the most powerful personal monarchs in English history.
o Most people lived in small villages and were involved with farming.
o When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, England was in a mess religiously, politically and
economically. As one of her subjects, William Camden, put it: “Certainly the state of England
lay now most afflicted, embroiled on the one side with the Scottish, on the other side with the
French war; overcharged with debt … the treasure exhausted; Calais [the last toehold England
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had in France] … lost, to the great dishonour of the English nation; the people distracted with
different opinions in religion; the Queen bare of potent friends, and strengthened with no
alliance of foreign princes.”
When Elizabeth and Grace met in 1593, England had recently defeated the Spanish army, and
was still in varying degrees of military conflict on the European continent. The Protestant
nations in Europe looked to England for support, and Elizabeth somewhat begrudgingly
supplied military support. England was also beginning to set up colonies in the New World,
and enjoying a golden age of theater and literature. The religious tensions present at the
beginning of Elizabeth’s reign existed throughout her reign. However, they never broke out
into horrible, bloody wars the way they did in France and the Netherlands, nor did Elizabeth’s
policies result in the extremities of the Spanish Inquisition. By no means was there religious
freedom in England, and people who believed in the illegal religion (Roman Catholicism) were
not necessarily safe. But Elizabeth’s policies, and the way she implemented them, created a
tenuous ability for people with differing religions to live together, while at the same time
protected her government from overthrow by Catholic subjects who were actually out to kill
her.
What’s the deal with Elizabeth’s clothes? Makeup?
o Through Elizabeth’s childhood and young adulthood she dressed very simply, with plain colors
and simple dresses. This was for political purposes. She was Protestant and couldn’t be
anything but Protestant because of her birth. Her father had broken from the Catholic Church
to marry her mother. If she converted to Catholicism it would be just about the same thing as
admitting that her parents’ marriage wasn’t legal in the eyes of God and the law. It’s one thing
for other people to call you illegitimate. It’s another to call yourself that. She also had to be
perceived as being Protestant, even under her Catholic sisters’ rule when everyone, Elizabeth
included, was by law Catholic. One way to be thought of as Protestant without actually
breaking the law was wearing plain clothes in sympathy with Protestant sensibilities against
decadence. So Elizabeth wore plain clothes so she could maybe perhaps someday be queen
with the support of the English Protestants.
o When she was queen, she also dressed for political purposes. But instead of using her clothing
to signal that she’s a Protestant, she used clothing to signal that she was a divinely appointed
monarch. As people do now, she used expensive clothing to tell others that she was the most
powerful, the most important person in the room. This operated not only on a personal level,
but an international level as the prosperity of a country’s monarch would indicate to
ambassadors the prosperity of the country as a whole.
o As her reign progressed fashions became more and more elaborate, distorting the silhouette
more and more – for both men and women.
o The clothing in her portraits is highly symbolic. For example: The Rainbow Portrait. It’s so
beautifully creepy. Her robe is covered in ears and eyes. There’s a large snake on her sleeve,
biting a ruby. Her hand is holding a rainbow. This is all to symbolize her power in the state.
An inscription by the rainbow says “There is no rainbow without the sun.” Elizabeth is the sun.
The snake with the ruby in its mouth represents wisdom and healing, like a caduceus (the
snake on a cross that represents doctors), the eyes and ears represent her seeing and hearing
The Rainbow Portrait
o
all that happens in her kingdom (MI-5 got its start during her reign). And then there’s the
“photo shopping” going on. She looks maybe somewhere in her 30s, but she was in her sixties
when this was painted. It would take a book to cover the issues involved with this painting:
power, youth, beauty and having or not having those.
Near the beginning of her reign she nearly died from small pox. After that she started wearing
makeup to cover scars, which frankly weren’t all that bad. The makeup of the time was quite
white, because pale was all the rage.
 One person was terribly scarred as a result of Elizabeth’s bout with small pox. Mary
Sidney took care of Elizabeth during her illness and came down with small pox herself.
Mary survived, but her scarring was so horrible that she never came to court again.
Elizabeth did not forget Mary though, and would visit her and send her gifts
throughout her life in gratitude.
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Did it really take four women to get her dressed in the morning?
o Yes – give or take a few.
o Dressing the monarch was a great honor. A system developed where nobility would take turns
putting certain items of clothing on. The personal contact could lead to great political
advantage. However, this didn’t happen so much under Elizabeth. When the monarch was
male, his male attendants would also be active members of the government. Having personal
time with the Big Guy could get you advantage in whatever your other endeavors might be.
The members of Elizabeth’s government were still male, but her attendants were female. So
the men of the court were cut off from a traditional route of influence with the monarch, and
the women of the court, not being involved in government, also didn’t really have the ability to
influence politics. Elizabeth as a rule did not discuss politics with her ladies. She really wasn’t
interested in advancing the state of women.
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Did Bingham really want to marry Queen Elizabeth?
o Probably not. But Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex, on whom the fictional character of
Bingham seems to be partly based, may have wanted to marry her. It was not uncommon for
men to pretend to be in love with their queen as a way to petition or interact with a female
and not lose their man card. A few men even thought they had a real chance at marrying her.
o She was not likely to marry any Englishman, for at least four reasons:
 Marrying inside the realm would mean that she would not be able to form a marriage
(or potential marriage) alliance with a strong, foreign power. One of her favorite
negotiating tactics would be taken off the board.
 It would inflame partisanship, as one side got the queen and the other side didn’t.
 It would require her to marry below her station. Ew.
 It would also mean she would lose power, for in a marriage relationship the woman’s
legal identity became subsumed into the man’s.
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Was Elizabeth really that flirty with the guys?
o Yes. Her enemies in Europe would call her worse names than “flirt.” Courtly romance is more
like what it was – everybody faking a romantic relationship in front of everybody else.
Elizabeth’s “flirtations” and “favorites” were not often actually love interests. It was simply a
way to conduct Renaissance court life with a female at the head. It was a way for the male
nobility involved with the government to be subservient to a woman and still retain their man
card. And Elizabeth was a lively, active person, not averse to having a good time, and also not
averse to manipulating any situation to her advantage. She relished the courtly romance for
all the advantages it gave her.
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Did Elizabeth ever actually want to get married?
o The issue of marriage and the succession was a fraught one throughout Elizabeth’s reign. The
particular dynamics changed a lot during the course of her reign, and took a dramatic turn
after her menopause.
o One of the main duties of any monarch, male or female, was to produce a biological and legal
heir. That was the single reason her father broke from the Catholic Church – so that he could
o
o
have a legitimate son. For Elizabeth to NOT marry and bear a child was an extremely
negligent, terrible dereliction of her duty, beyond the comprehension of her subjects.
She used her marriage – or potential marriage – to negotiate tentative but effective peace
with rival nations. After all, a country could not very well go to war with another country
when they were both trying to get their leaders married. That she would never marry or bear
children did not cross anyone’s mind until she was older.
She seems to have wanted to marry on some personal level, if poetry can be believed. She
seemed to thoroughly enjoy her last political courtship with a French noble, so much so that
people thought it likely that she would marry him. She was in her forties, over twenty years
into her reign and that many years his senior. If she was going to get married and have a baby,
as any good monarch should, this was her last chance. The English people didn’t like the
thought of her marrying a Frenchman and a Catholic. The relationship/courtship fizzled to
nothing. Elizabeth wrote a poem in response:
I grieve and dare not show my discontent;
I love, and yet am forced to seem to hate;
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant;
I seem stark mute, but inwardly do prate.
I am, and not; I freeze and yet am burned,
Since from myself another self I turned.
My care is like my shadow in the sun –
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands, and lies by me, doth what I have done;
His too familiar care doth make me rue it.
No means I find to rid him from my breast,
Till by the end of things it be suppressed.
Some gentler passion slide into my mind,
For I am soft and made of melting snow;
Or be more cruel, Love, and so be kind.
Let me or float or sink, be high or low;
Or let me live with some more sweet content,
Or die, and so forget what love e’er meant.”
o
Had she not been Queen of England, she might have been forced to marry a foreign prince as
part of international politics. Had she not been any sort of noble, and her own words can be
believed (see, for example, the letter below), she would never have married, unless perhaps
she could have married Robert Dudley – her true, lifelong friend until his death in 1588.
However, she had told him, with a profane flourish, “God’s death, my lord, I will have but one
mistress and no master.”
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
o
Her response to a marriage proposal from Erik of Sweden is the classic “friends” talk. All the
elements are there, even the “It’s not you, it’s me.”
Most Serene Prince Our Very Dear Cousin,
A letter truly yours both in the writing and sentiment was given us on 30 December by your very dear brother,
the Duke of Finland. And while we perceive there from that the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not
diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your Serene Highness with the same kind of
affection. And that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as
often we have testified both in words and writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of
affection towards anyone.
We therefore beg your Serene Highness again and again that you be pleased to set a limit to your love, that it
advance not beyond the laws of friendship for the present nor disregard them in the future. And we in our turn
shall take care that whatever can be required for the holy preservation of friendship between Princes we will
always perform towards your Serene Highness. It seems strange for your Serene Highness to write that you
understand from your brother and your ambassadors that we have entirely determined not to marry an absent
husband; and that we shall give you no certain reply until we shall have seen your person.
We certainly think that if God ever direct our hearts to consideration of marriage we shall never accept or
choose any absent husband how powerful and wealthy a Prince soever. But that we are not to give you an
answer until we have seen your person is so far from the thing itself that we never even considered such a
thing. But I have always given both to your brother, who is certainly a most excellent prince and deservedly
very dear to us, and also to your ambassador likewise the same answer with scarcely any variation of the
words, that we do not conceive in our heart to take a husband, but highly commend this single life, and hope
that your Serene Highness will no longer spend time in waiting for us.
God keep your Serene Highness for many years in good health and safety. From our Palace at Westminster, 25
February.
Your Serene Highness’ sister and cousin,
Elizabeth

Were there really no maps of Ireland in the 16th Century?
o No good ones.
o
o

And this caused the English many headaches as they tried to subdue the Irish. The Irish could
conduct guerilla warfare and retreat into unknown hiding places both on the coast and on
land, to recover and attack again. The mapping of Ireland conducted by the English during
Elizabeth’s reign was a major contributing factor to the extension of English control over
Ireland.
Lack of good maps also made it difficult to grant title to any land, which was a critical part of
the Surrender and Re-Grant policy.
Did Irish nobility actually turn in their crowns to Elizabeth?
o Sort of.
o
o
o
o
o
Elizabeth used a system called Surrender and Re-grant. Her father Henry VIII started it as part
of his effort to ensure Irish loyalty to England. The Irish nobility would surrender their lands
and Gaelic titles to England. England then required of them an oath of loyalty to the English
crown and a promise to follow English law and customs. Then England would re-grant those
same lands and an English title back to the Irish noble. It was a relatively inexpensive way to
spread English influence and law, and somewhat effective. But there were no reliable maps of
Irish lands, and clans were disputing their own claims to Irish lands and titles, making it next to
impossible for England to grant clear title to anything. This could lead to conflict as one group
fought with another over who controlled what land and under what law.
Also, there were times Elizabeth seemingly purposefully granted an English title against the
interests of an established Irish noble. This happened to Grace’s first husband. Dónal
O’Flaherty was the elected tánaiste of his clan. He was to become the next leader of the
O’Flahertys. However, through the Surrender and Re-grant program Elizabeth appointed
Murrough na dTuadh, a minor leader in the O’Flaherty clan, to be Lord of Iar-Chonnacht, which
was basically the same territory. Not surprisingly, they fought about that.
The O’Malleys were one of the few Gaelic clans who had not ever submitted to the English
crown in this way. However, Grace may have effectively, if not legally, done so during her
meeting with Elizabeth, and her children certainly began to side with Elizabeth and the English
monarchy in the years following 1593.
Elizabeth continued her father’s Surrender and Re-grant policy at the beginning of her reign
and didn’t really begin heavy military intervention until later in her reign, when the threat
from Spain using Ireland to invade England increased.
The actual “subduing” of Ireland occurred during Elizabeth’s successor’s reign. The last decade
of Elizabeth’s reign was plagued by rebellion in Ireland. Elizabeth died in March 1603. The Irish
leader O’Neill surrendered to England in October of that year. In March 1604 a law was
passed that essentially outlawed any native chiefs and in 1607 the native leaders of Ireland
and the rebellion, in what is known as the flight of the earls, sailed from Lough Swilly for Rome,
never to return.

What was the real reason Grace went to see Elizabeth?
o Bingham had captured Grace’s adult son Tibbot and charged him with treason. He had also
captured Graces’ half-brother Donal and charged him with murder. Earlier, Bingham’s brother
had killed Grace’s oldest son Owen. Bingham was probably going to execute Tibbot and Donal,
guilty or not. He had also captured much of her territory and cattle, cutting her and her
people off from their lands and sources of income. So Grace went to meet Elizabeth herself,
doing an end run around Bingham.

What REALLY happened when they met?
o Grace and Elizabeth were both about 60 years old.
o Travelling from Ireland to England, Grace likely captained the ship she sailed on herself.
o She had a decades long record of antagonism with England and sailing into one of the busiest
ports in the world was a huge risk. Any privateer (a ship licensed by the English crown to
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
attack enemies of England) would have considered her ship a valid and valuable target to
capture.
Grace was at Elizabeth’s court at Greenwich Palace June-September 1593.
Grace had to answer in writing 18 questions put to her by Lord Burghley, Elizabeth’s chief
advisor, before she was allowed to see Elizabeth.
Grace was barefoot and taller than Elizabeth.
They reputedly had an exchange in Latin that went something like this
 Elizabeth: Mihi quarehuc veneris (Tell me why you come.)
 Grace: De meo populo parlarvi veni (I come to speak for my people.)
 Grace speaking Latin is proof of her education. It’s not known whether she could
speak English, though it’s probable. At least one person in her court could write
English very well, as shown in the written responses to 18 questions she had to answer
before she could see Elizabeth.
 So it is uncertain in what language they conversed. It could have been Latin (the
language used during the previous centuries between the English kings and the Irish
nobility) or it could have been in English.
The amusing exchange with the hand kerchief actually happened in a manner fairly similar to
how it’s portrayed on our stage with Grace throwing it in the fire and each woman throwing a
bard at the other about it.
They sat together for several hours, and no one knows what they talked about, but when the
conversation was done, Elizabeth granted everything Grace asked.
Grace’s son and half-brother were released and Bingham was ordered to make sure Grace had
the income she was due by Irish law.
However, Bingham of course was not excited to carry out Elizabeth’s orders benefiting his
enemy, and continued using his soldiers in such a way to impoverish Grace and her family.
Trying again to protect her people and family, there was a continued exchange of letters and
another trip to England to secure Grace’s rights.
The factual evidence of the meeting of these women comes from the correspondence of
Grace, Lord Burghley (Elizabeth’s chief advisor), Sir Richard Bingham, Tibbot-ne-Long (Grace’s
youngest son), the Earl of Ormond (an Anglo-Irish noble that supported Elizabeth and arranged
Graces introduction to Elizabeth) and Elizabeth herself.
Elizabeth later ordered Bingham ‘to have pity for the poor aged woman,’ blithely ignoring that
she was about the same age.
Some Resource Books
Chambers, Anne, Granuaile: Grace O’Malley – Ireland’s Pirate Queen, 2009.
Cronin, Mike, Irish History for Dummies, 2006.
Herman, Arthur, To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World, 2004.
May, Steven W., Queen Elizabeth I: Selected Works, 2004.
Picard, Liza, Elizabeth’s London: Everyday Life in Elizabethan London, 2003.
Somerset, Anne, Elizabeth I, 2003.
Tillyard,E.M.W., The Elizabethan World Picture,