There is a statue in the grounds of Westport House, County Mayo, staring down at the stunningly beautiful Clew Bayin the west coast of Ireland, that is a very source of pride over there. All the locals knew stories about Grace O'Malley, or Granuaile (pronounced Gran ya Wale) in Gaelic and her legend lives on in the area.

Born c.1530 into the O'Malley family, a renowned seafarer who controlled the sea routes along the west coast of Ireland, charging a tax to fishermen and traders.

Despite having a brother, upon the death of her father, it was Grace who took over active leadership by land and especially by sea to protect the west Ireland region from the growing threat of the English crown. Her extraordinary career earned her the nickname, “The Pirate Queen”. She was better than most of his male counterparts at her prime and is considered the greatest female ‘pirate’ of the world ever.

When the English governor of Connaught, Sir Richard Bingham captured Grace O'Malley's two sons, she set sail for England to speak to Queen Elizabeth I face to face. Her ships sailed up the River Thames in London, where Grace met Queen Elizabeth at Greenwich. On meeting the Queen, Grace refused to bow, stating that she herself was a Queen of her land and not a subject of the Queen of England. Their discussion was carried out in Latin as Grainne Mhaol spoke no English and Queen Elizabeth spoke no Irish.

The two, who were roughly the same age apparently, admired each other, and reached a truce; Grace would stop attacking English ships and switch to attacking Spanish ones and her sons were returned to her.

Grace O'Malley died at Rockfleet Castle in 1603, the same year as Queen Elizabeth.