Protecting a pirate’s treasure at Westport House

TO SAY that Westport House has been in the family for generations doesn’t quite capture Lady Sheelyn Browne’s impressive lineage — her connection to the 400-acre Co Mayo estate goes right back to her 14th great-grandmother, the “most notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland”, pirate queen Grace O’Malley.

The fearless seafarer, once considered “a director of thieves and murderers at sea”, built a castle on this spot in the 16th century and her memory still lives on. She inspired the Pirate Adventure Park in the grounds, the maritime exhibition in the House’s ‘dungeons’ and, now, a four-day Pirate Queen Festival will be held in her honour over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

That her descendants are still here in Westport House is testament to generations of Brownes whose determination has kept the current house in the same family for over 300 years.