Gráinne Ní Mháille

Gráinne Ní Mháille (c.1530 - c.1603), commonly known as Grace O'Malley, was a legendary Irish pirate and Chieftan of the Ó Mháille clan during the 16th century.

Born around 1530, Ní Mháille was the child of a wealthy sea trader who she accompanied on his voyages from a young age. As a teenager she was married to Donal Ó Flaithbheartaigh, heir to a powerful clan, as a political move. The marriage lasted for 19 years, during which they had three children and Ní Mháille gained considerable experience commanding ships in her husband's fleet. 

Following the death of her husband and her father, Ní Mháille inherited a considerable amount of money and took over her father's fleet of 20 ships and hundreds of sailors. She built on her father's success to become one the dominant forces on the Irish west coast, launching raids on rival clans, forcing merchant ships to pay for safe passage, and imposing taxes on fishermen as far away as England. She also transported Gallowglass mercenaries between Scotland and Ireland, often raiding Scottish islands at the same time.  Her position was strengthened by the control of several coastal castles, most prominent of which was Rockfleet Castle, which she gained through her second marriage to Risdeárd Bourke. After a year of marriage she is said to have taken control of the castle, barring Bourke from entering and yelling from a window, "I dismiss you!". 

Ní Mháille had a tumultuous relationship with the English. From the early 1560's onward she was accused of piracy multiple times, but she won some favour with the English by assisting in coastal attacks on southern Ireland and won the respect of Sir Henry Sidney, the Lord Deputy of Ireland. However n 1579 she was besieged in her castle by English forces, who she defeated by pouring hot oil on the attackers and according to some accounts by making homemade bullets from melted down armour.

Ní Mháille made a lasting enemy in the form of Richard Bingham, the English ruler of Connacht, after she fought alongside the Bourkes in open rebellion against him from 1585 to 1589. Bingham sought revenge for the rebellion by targeting Ní Mháille, destroying her lands and property. Bingham killed Ní Mháille's eldest son, Eoghan, and captured his castle, while making a deal with one of her other sons, Murchadh, to switch sides. Ní Mháille swore never to speak to Murchadh again after his betrayal and burned his lands.

 Financially ruined, the final blow to Ní Mháille came in 1593 when Bingham captured her other son, Tiobóid, as well as her brother and threatened them with charges of treason. Ní Mháille petitioned Queen Elizabeth of England directly to ask for their release. Elizabeth sent Ní Mháille a list of questions which she answered, and later that year the two women met at Greenwich Palace near London. Despite Ní Mháille's rough manners and refusal to bow, the two women, both in their sixties, seemed to develop a healthy respect for each other. As neither spoke the other's language they conversed in Latin, striking an agreement that Ní Mháille's family would be released, reparations would be made for her stolen property, and that Bingham would be removed from power.

The agreement did not last. Reparations were not fully made, and while initially stripped of his position, Bingham was eventually allowed to return to power in Ireland. Angered, Ní Mháille returned to helping Irish rebels during the Nine Years' War. She died of old age in Rockfleet Castle at the end of the war in 1603. After her death Ní Mháille's fighting prowess led to many Irish folk tales being told about her and she is still remembered as a legendary pirate.

Sayyida al Hurra

Sayyida al Hurra was an Islamic pirate queen during the early 16th century. ‘Sayyida al Hurra’ is in fact a title marking her out as an independent female ruler. Her true name is unknown.

Born around 1485 in Granada, Sayyida fled with her family to Morocco when that Islamic kingdom fell to Christian Spain. At 16 she was married to a man 30 years her senior, al-Mandri, who was the governor of of Tétouan in northern Morocco. She assisted her husband in ruling the city and inherited his position following his death in 1515. She was the last woman to use the title of ‘al Hurra’, meaning ‘queen’.

Sayyida had never forgotten the indignity of being forced out of her home by ‘the Christian enemy’. To get her revenge she assembled her own pirate fleet and allied herself with the Turkish corsair Oruç Reis, known in Europe as Barbarossa. Together their forces wreaked havoc on Spanish and Portugese shipping lanes, looting ships and ransoming captured sailors. Sayyida al Hurra took control of the western half of the Mediterranean, while Oruç Reis commanded the east. Spanish records describe her as a respected and fearsome opponent who dominated the seas of that region.

In 1541 she accepted a marriage proposal from Ahmed al-Wattasi, the King of Morocco. However she refused to give up her role as queen of Tétouan or even to leave the city for the marriage ceremony, forcing al-Wattasi to come to her. This is the only recorded instance that the Moroccan king married outside of his capital.

Sayyida al Hurra reigned for nearly thirty years, until she was deposed by her own son-in-law in 1542. She was stripped of her property and power, however her ultimate fate is unknown.

Read more about Sayyida al Hurra.

Jeanne de Clisson

Jeanne de Clisson, also known as the Lioness of Brittany, was a Breton pirate who launched a reign of terror across the English Channel in the 14th century.

Jeanne became embroiled in the events of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France when her husband, Oliver, placed his support behind the English candidate to rule Brittany. For this he was tried and executed for treason by King Philip VI of France.

Enraged, Jeanne swore vengeance for the betrayal. She sold her husband’s remaining land so that she could buy three warships, which she had painted black with red sails. Under Jeanne’s command the ‘Black Fleet’ raided the English Channel for the next 13 years, destroying any French warships they came across. Each time Jeanne had the crew slaughtered, save for one or two French sailors which she sent back to the French king to let him know what she had done.

While an independent privateer, Jeanne formed an alliance of convenience with the English and helped to keep supplies available to the English forces for the Battle of Crécy in 1346. Even after Philip VI died in 1350, Jeanne continued to wreak havoc on French shipping. She made a point of targeting ships carrying French noblemen, which she boarded so that she could personally behead the aristocrats with her axe. 

In 1356, Jeanne retired from piracy and married an English lieutenant. She later returned to France, where she died in 1359.

Ching Shih

Ching Shih was a legendary Pirate Queen who terrorized the China Sea in the early 19th century and is regarded as one of the most successful pirates in all of history. 

Shih’s early life was spent working as a prostitute in Canton until she was kidnapped by pirates. In 1801 she married the pirate Zheng Yi, who was a member of a notorious crime family. Shih fought actively alongside Zheng Yi as he amassed one of the largest pirate forces in China, known as the Red Flag Fleet.

When Zheng Yi died in 1807, Shih quickly maneuvered herself into becoming the new leader using her good relationships with the fleet’s captains and by marrying Zheng Yi’s adopted nephew, Chang Pao.

Once in control of the fleet Shih set up about unifying it with a rigorously enforced code of conduct. The code punished disobedience with beheading, forbade stealing publicly owned money, and set up a system to redistribute loot to help fund the needs of the fleet. The code also punished pirates committing rape, adultery or sex out of wedlock with death.

Under Shih’s leadership the Red Flag Fleet established dominance over many coastal villages, some of whom were heavily taxed, but in turn the fleet was forbidden from attacking allied settlements. Shih’s fleet numbered over 300 Junks (ships) and tens of thousands of sailors, which included men, women and children. Reports from the British admiralty at the time called Ching Shih  “The Terror of the South China Sea".

The Chinese navy lost 63 ships trying to defeat the Red Flag Fleet and even the hired navies of Portugal and Britain proved useless. In 1810 an amnesty was offered to all pirates which Ching Shih took advantage of and retired. She kept her amassed wealth and used it to open a gambling house. She died in 1844, at the age of 69.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read

Anne Bonny and Mary Read were a famous duo of female pirates who had a violent career in the early 18th century.

Both had unusual teenage years. Anne ran away from Ireland to the Bahamas married to a pirate named John Bonny, although she quickly moved through a string of lovers before setting sail on the Revenge, captained by John “Calico Jack” Rackam. While ostensibly onboard as Rackam’s lover, Anne fought in battles dressed as a man and acquired a bloodthirsty reputation, once stabbing a sailor who complained about her gender.

From the age of 13 Mary Read had been disguised as a boy to serve as a ‘powder monkey’ on a British man-of-war, and later served on a Dutch ship headed to the West Indies. Captured by pirates, she became part of Rackam’s crew, where she met Anne who learned her true identity.

The two became close friends (and possibly lovers), who fought side-by-side in battle wielding pistols and machetes. They served in Rackam’s crew during the height of his campaign in 1720, during which they captured 7 boats and 2 sloops.

This came to an end that October, when their ship was attacked by a ship commissioned by the Governor of Jamaica. The attack came at night when most of the crew were too drunk to fight and the Revenge was quickly disabled. Anne and Mary however refused to surrender and faced off against the enemy crew, but were only able to hold them off for a short time.

The two were sentenced to death in Jamaica but were given a stay of execution as both claimed to be pregnant. Mary died in prison, and Anne’s ultimate fate is unknown.