Gráinne O’Malley (c. 1530 – c. 1603), also known as Grace O’Malley, was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille.

Upon her father’s death, she took over active leadership of the lordship by land and sea, despite having a brother.

Over the course of her lifetime – a time marked by the Tudor reconquest of Ireland – Grace O’Malley established herself as a powerful ruler by land and sea, incurring hardships, imprisonment and conflict to ensure her community’s survival.

Grace was a formidable woman for her time and a role model for women standing against society norms. In September 1593 Grace was granted an audience with Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich and sought support against the Governor, which she was granted.

Grace’s plundering and piracy missions took her as far afield as Spain and the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Closer to home, Grace would make forays into isolated coastal areas to reap whatever she could find, such as cattle. Ireland at the time was a great cattle rearing country, and the wealth of every chieftain was numbered not on the acres of land he had, but on the number of cattle these acres could support. Cattle raiding was part of Grace’s life, and her galley ships would have been able to take some of the animals on board.

English historical records state that Grace’s galley ships were substantial in size and each could carry around 200 men. Her galleys were a development of the original Viking longship. However, Grace’s galleys had the advantage of the lateen or triangular sail that made the ships more manoeuvrable at sea. They were shallow, wooden-hulled and clinker-built, and were powered by as many as 30 oars. The ships were very versatile and could sail close to the shoreline.

Grace also introduced a new type of piracy: toll taking at sea for safe passage.