The Pirate Queen
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I'd like to share
what I know about a lesser known hero of Irish
history, Grace O'Malley (a.k.a. Granuaile). Hers is
a fascinating story, one which is certain to come
to the silver screen before long. I've often toyed
with the idea of adapting it myself, but since my
screenplay ideas have a habit of being scooped, I
thought I should stay away from this one. In fact,
I just did a quick search online, and several
people are allegedly developing such projects. Glad
I didn't spend too much time on this one.
But I digress. Granuaile lived in sixteenth
century Ireland, where her ambition quickly made
her a renowned seafarer, trader and, ultimately,
pirate. She was twice widowed and twice imprisoned,
but overcame all obstacles to become "queen" of the
high seas. Her notoriety even brought her before
another queen, Elizabeth I of England. The two
reportedly became fast friends, and the English
queen—perhaps, as Judi Dench as Queen
Elizabeth in "Shakespeare in Love" said, knowing
"something of a woman in a man's
profession"—went so far as to pardon the
pirate queen and release her sons from
imprisonment.
Granuaile lived a life uncommon for a woman of
her time, and she died a death uncommon for
pirates: in bed, with her boots off.
Happy St.
Patrick's Day!
More information:
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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3/16:
To
War or Not to War
3/15:
So
Long, Seau
3/14:
Telemarketing
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Free,
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3/12:
Chicken
Little Gets Respect
3/11:
Axis
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3/10:
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3/9:
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3/8:
The
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3/7:
Salt
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3/6:
3/3/03,
3:33 p.m.
3/5:
Beer
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Pulling
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3/3:
Make
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3/2:
Whither
Iraq?
3/1:
Strickland
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