With our three Cornish Gigs, Grace O’Malley, Knucker & Affinity we row out to sea and up the River Ouse. We currently row from Denton Island Marina in a traditional Cornish Pilot Gig called Grace O'Malley (previously Bristol Gig Club’s Isambard). Grace O’Malley, the 16th Century Pirate Queen of Ireland. She was Queen of Umaill, chieftain of the O Maille clan, a rebel, seafarer, and fearless leader
who challenged the turbulent politics of 16th century England and Ireland. While Irish legends have immortalized Grace as a courageous woman who overcame boundaries of gender imbalance and bias to fight for the independence of Ireland and protect it against the English crown; to the English, she was considered a brutal and thieving pirate, who controlled the coastlines through intimidation and plunder. Grace O’Malley was born in Ireland around 1530 as a daughter of the wealthy nobleman and sea trader Owen O'Malley. Upon his death, she inherited his large shipping and trading business. From her earliest days, she rejected the role of the 16th century woman, instead embracing the life on the sea with the fleet of O'Malley trading ships. The income from this business, as well as land inherited from her mother, enabled her to become rich and somewhat powerful .
