Revision as of 21:17, 30 November 2006 edit Haltiamieli (talk \| contribs) Extended confirmed users 696 edits m →Marriage to O'Flaherty ← Previous edit		Revision as of 09:46, 2 December 2006 edit undo Pádraic MacUidhir (talk \| contribs) 2,284 edits →Early life Next edit →
Line 6: Grace was born into early [[16th century]] [[Ireland]], in 1530 when [[Henry VIII of England\|Henry VIII]] was on the throne of [[England]]. Under the policies of the English government at the time, the semi-autonomous Irish princes and lords were left mostly to their own devices. However this was to change over the course of her life and the [[Tudor re-conquest of Ireland]] gathered pace. Grace was the daughter of Owen Dubhdarra O'Malley, chieftain of the O'Malley clan. The O'Malleys controlled most of what is now the barony of [[Murrisk]] in South-West [[County Mayo]] and recognised as their nominal overlords the gaelicised ~~anglo~~Anglo-~~norman~~Norman Burke or de Burgo family who controlled much of what is now that county. Unusually among the Irish nobility of the time, the O' Malleys were a great seafaring family and taxed all those who fished off their coasts, which included fishermen from as far away as England. Their leader bore the ancient Irish title of The O' Malley. According to Irish legend, as a young girl Grace wished to go on a trading expedition to [[Spain]] with her father, and on being told she could not because her long hair would catch in the ship's ropes, cut off her hair to embarrass her father into taking her, and thus earning her the nickname "Gráinne Mhaol" ({{IPA2\|ˈgrɑːnʲə veːl}}) ([[Irish language\|Irish]] ''maol'' meaning "bald" or having cropped hair); the name stuck.

Grace O'Malley: Difference between revisions