9. Mhaol’s Murderous Rampage
Grainne Mhaol remarried in 1566, but she was still livid at her sailor lover’s murder. So she had another go at the MacMahons in Doona Castle, and seized it by surprising the garrison while they were praying. Around that time, she also went after a thief who stole something from her, then fled to a church for sanctuary. So she surrounded the church and decided to wait him out, offering him the choice of starvation of surrender. He chose a third option, by digging a tunnel and escaping. In the meantime, her piratical activities expanded, until Grainne became Ireland’s sea mistress, and a pirate queen who controlled the waters around Connacht with an iron fist. She preyed on shipping and coastal communities along Ireland’s western coast, as well as on eastern settlements on the Irish Sea. While expanding her control, Grainne personally led a raid on a seaside stronghold known as Cocks Castle. To commemorate her courage in capturing it, it became known thereafter as Hens Castle.
After defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588, the English were able to focus on consolidating their grip on Ireland, and fighting Irish piracy and pirates such as Grainne Mhaol. To resist that English expansion, Grainney allied with Irish lords rebelling against the English. However, in 1593, the English captured her sons and brother, so Grainne sailed to England, to petition Queen Elizabeth I for their release. She met the English Queen at Greenwich Castle, where Grainne reportedly refused to bow, on the grounds that she did not recognize Elizabeth as Queen of Ireland. Elizabeth extracted Grainne’s promise to cease assisting Irish rebels. Elizabeth did not live up to her part of the bargain, however, so Grainne resumed her support of the rebels, and reportedly died in one of her castles in 1603.
