The Wild Irish: A Novel of Elizabeth I and the Pirate O'Malley

Don’t Get Mom AngryBy Bob Gelms The Wild Irish: A Novel of Elizabeth I and the Pirate O'Malley by Robin Maxwell is an epic tale of the collision of the two most powerful women of the 16th century, Elizabeth I and Grace O’Malley. One is English and the other has the honor to be Irish. Ms. Maxwell has written a novel with a very strong foundation in history. This is, essentially, the story of how Elizabeth attempted to quash the Irish uprising at the end of her reign, an Irish revolt led by Grace O’Malley, Queen of the Irish Rebellion and the Pirate Queen of Ireland The novel covers one of the most famous incidents in Irish history. To control the wild Irish Queen, Elizabeth appointed a governor for each of the four ancient provinces. One of them, Connacht Province, has five counties, one of which is County Mayo, the seat of Grace’s kingdom. It's governor, Richard Bingham, was a card carrying sadistic sociopath with a deep hatred for the Irish people. Bingham only hated one thing more than he hated the Irish, Grace O’Malley herself. He appropriated a huge chunk of her land, her herd of cattle and one of her castles. Oh yeah, he also kidnapped her son and her brother and held them for ransom. As a pirate, Grace commanded 24 ships. In addition to the sailors, she had a small army of 250-500 men under her command. Richard Bingham had just shaken the biggest hornets’ nest in Ireland. Grace took her flagship and sailed it right up the Thames, docked at Greenwich Castle, and demanded an audience with the Queen. Now, this is a woman that most Englishmen would love to see beheaded. Grace had some pretty big cojones, figuratively. The Queen stunned the court by granting the interview. Elizabeth didn’t speak Irish and Grace didn’t speak English, so, these two incredible women hammered out an agreement by conversing in Latin. Every bit of this is historical fact. What comes next is not. Elizabeth invites Grace to stay the night and they retire to the Queen’s bedroom where Grace tells the Queen her life’s story. The facts of her life are true but the setting never happened. The rest of the book is a mixture of the Queen’s effort to put down the rebellion in Ireland, and Grace’s efforts to support the uprising. Then, enter the Earl of Essex whose real name is Robert Devereux. The Queen sent him with an overpowering army to defeat the Irish rebels. Essex was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (that's equivalent to Supreme Allied Commander). Essex had at least two, maybe three, opportunities to defeat the Irish in what would have been described as a rout, but for some completely mysterious reason he negotiated a treaty. Nothing was written down. The two commanders met in the middle of an open field and verbally came to an agreement that lasted three months. Essex’s career was finished. He was disgraced. Now comes the juicy part. It was very heavily rumored that Essex was a favorite of the Queen. They supposedly had a hot affair that lasted quite some time. That’s right, the Virgin Queen. While still in the good (pun alert) graces of the Queen, Grace O’Malley and the Earl of Essex had a number of, um, uh, assignations, giving a whole new meaning to “comforting the enemy.” It’s more likely Grace was using her feminine whiles to spy on the enemy and gather whatever intelligence she could. By the time he went to Ireland the affair was over and Essex had taken to finding his pleasure anywhere he could. Consequently, he contracted what was called the French pox. LOL. He was very sick in Ireland and a lot of his military decisions were made while in the grip of the disease. Elizabeth, daughter of Ann Boleyn and Henry VIII, had one important goal she wanted to achieve. She wanted to complete the subjugation of Ireland, something her father started but didn’t finish. The Irish finally surrendered but, in a sublime irony, it was three days after Elizabeth died. Grace is said to have died a few months later in her castle in County Mayo. The Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, died from complications due to the French pox. Wild Irish: A Novel of Elizabeth I and the Pirate O'Malley by Robin Maxwell is a very clever mix of history and fiction. And let me just say you will enjoy the read even if you aren’t Irish.

This is a story of two women perfectly matched in guts: Elizabeth, Queen of England, at the age of 60 meets the notorious Irish Rebel, Grace O’Malley, age 63.1593: Grace O’Malley sails to London. Once docked at the castle quay, she demands an audience with Elizabeth. Tibbot Burke, Grace’s son, is in custody of Richard Binghm, held at Dublin Castle. Bingham threatens to hang Burke. Grace comes to ask her Majesty a pardon for her son.Later the same night, Elizabeth requests a private audience with Grace. Elizabeth, never set her foot outside her island, and now wants to hear a story of “a woman with the soul of a man. (…) with the wealth of experience in the wide world.” Thus, the story of the Irish Rebel is revealed.The story is intertwined with the third historical figure of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, at 24 already a great lord of England and Elizabeth’s undisputed favorite; his military exploits already the stuff of legend. “But his current financial embarrassment is acute. He has inherited nothing but debt from his father…”Elizabeth is determined to establish English legal system in Ireland. Essex, who is in financial disrepair, and now after meeting Grace O’Malley, sees opportunity in Ireland.With introduction of Robert Devereaux, a lot of other names are introduced, which is a bit hard to follow all those names.Most of Grace’s story is very engaging, but there are parts filled with battles and after a while it becomes a pretty dry read.Overall, the story is overwhelmed with historical names and facts. The interesting character of Grace gets covered up with her own story; the longer she tells her story the more she gets buried in it.The most interesting facts about Grace:At the Abbey of Murrisk, she receives her wider education – the Latin. “The monks there tutored me, and though they were kind and finally grew to love me, they thought it mad to teach a little girl the likes of the Roman language.”At the age of 16, she marries Donal O’Flaherty despite her attempts to forestall the inevitable; losing the freedoms to travel. She is not good with her household chores, “those which my mother had tried relentlessly to instill in me.”Despite her sex and her motherhood, there is no point of denying what she was forced to suppress for so long. “I’d been bread to the sea and the sea was my destiny.” She doesn’t mind fishing, but she craves exotic lands. And when needed, she also proves to be a skillful warrior on land, fighting a siege and leading it to victory.

love robin maxwell's books ,differen t take on history

By mistake I ordered two copies of "The Wild Irish" by Robin Maxwell instead of one, however it turned out to be rather fun as my husband Ron & I read it in tandem! We both agreed it was a fantastic tale as I got to the halfway point, I thought, how can there be any more to say but my goodness there was so much more of interest to find out.It made us both realize how ignorant we have been about the roots of our islands problems & I felt this book should be read in our schools to help the youngsters grow up with a better understanding of their neighbors, thankyou so much Robin for such a cracking tale an education at the same time!

Bought this book for a friend who is writing her own novel, "The Eyes of The Queen", based on Grace (Gruinne) O'Malley and her meeting with Queen Elizabeth1. I'm sure she will enjoy this book.... the title alone makes you curious and want to read it. Grace O'Malley led such an interesting life. you should check her out

An exciting and fascinating story. I really liked the book and its characters. It really gives a picture of that time