317 - Grace O'Malley

This week's topic, coinciding with St. Patrick's Day, is Grace O'Malley.  O'Malley controlled a large portion of County Mayo in the late 1500s and was known as a pirate queen.  She famously met on equal terms with Queen Elizabeth I, and received her protection from Richard Bingham, the English lord nominally put in charge of the province of Connacht.