12. Connaught’s Pirate Queen
Grace O’Malley remarried in 1566, but was still mad at her deceased 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 surrender or starvation. He chose the third option, by digging a tunnel and escaping.
Grace became Ireland’s sea mistress, and a badass pirate queen who controlled the waters around Connaught 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, she 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.