First feminist: Pirate queen Grace O'Malley charts a bold course for women

16th-century Grace O’Malley aka Gráinne Mhaol continues to inspire the author who unearthed her backstory, writes Margaret Jennings

SHE is a fearless feminist icon who grabbed life with both hands right up to her death in older age, but it wasn’t until four decades ago that Grace O’Malley, the 16th-century pirate queen of Connacht, was proven to be a flesh-and-blood living legend, rather than a mythical figure, when one Irish woman delved into her background and brought her into the light.