Granuaile ~ Pirate Queen Of Connaught
Sir Richard Bingham
In 1584 Sir John Perrot was appointed lord deputy, and Sir Richard Bingham was made provincial president of Connacht. Perrot had been ordered to undo the sense of alienation caused by the harsh methods employed by his predecessors. While Perrot wished to follow a conciliatory route, Bingham stated that ‘The Irish were never tamed with words but with swords’. In 1585 Perrot introduced another composition, re-offered Surrender and Regrant, and worked to abolish the clientship tributes. Bingham, preferring confrontational methods, appears to have focused on Gráinne as a source of trouble. He took Tibbot-na-Long hostage and had him incarcerated in Ballymote Castle for a year.
Bingham was charged with imposing the composition in Connacht. In 1585 he held the first session in Mayo. Some of the Bourkes refused to attend and barricaded themselves in Hag’s Castle at Lough Mask, which Bingham promptly attacked and demolished. Later that year, following the death of the MacWilliam, Bingham conferred the title and lands on MacOliverus’s eldest son, over the claim of tánaiste Edmund Bourke of Castlebar. The Bourkes rose in rebellion, joined by among others the Uí Máilles, and secretly by Gráinne’s son-in-law Richard ‘the Devil’s Hook’ Bourke. Bingham ordered his brother John to seize the lands of Gráinne’s son Owen. Gráinne later testified that Owen offered hospitality, and in return had been ‘fast bound . . . [and] cruelly murdered having twelve deadly wounds’. Bingham claimed that Owen ‘being prisoner . . . made his escape and in pursuit was slain’.
Incensed by the killing of her son, Gráinne became an active rebel against Bingham, who dispatched John to capture her and seize her property. Gráinne was released on the pledge of the Devil’s Hook, who immediately openly joined the rebellion. Gráinne fled to Ulster, whether to seek aid or because ‘fear compelled her to fly by sea’ is open to speculation. She was forced to remain in exile for three months as a result of storm damage to her fleet.
By late 1587 the Bourke rebellion had collapsed, and Bingham was sent to Flanders to aid the Dutch against Spain. In his absence, Gráinne sailed for Dublin and appealed to Sir John Perrot, who granted her, and her children, full pardon for past offences. In 1588 Spain launched its Armada against England. Fearing that the Spanish would land in Ireland and unite with rebellious chieftains, the Crown recalled Bingham and replaced Perrot with Sir William Fitzwilliam. Bingham issued orders to seek out and kill any survivors, playing close attention to the Devil’s Hook’s territory.
In 1589 the final Bourke rebellion ignited when Bingham ordered troops ‘to prosecute and followe all and every of the said traytors . . . yt shall be lawful for you . . . to praie, burn and spolie’. Open conflict flared. Gráinne ‘byrned and spoyled the isles of Aran’. Connacht was in turmoil. Elizabeth ordered Fitzwilliam to make peace with the Bourkes, and he, in turn, tried to rein Bingham in. The Bourkes, along with English officials, presented a list of charges against Bingham, who was tried and acquitted in 1590.
On his return to Connacht, Gráinne bore the brunt of Bingham’s rage. While she was at sea he devastated her lands at Carraigahowley. On learning that her son, Murrough-na-Moar, had sided with Bingham, she ‘burned his towen and spoiled his people of their cattayle and goods’. In 1592 Tibbot-na-Long initiated a rising and attacked Bingham. Gráinne again faced Bingham’s vengeance; he plundered her territory, impounded her fleet and stationed ships in Clew Bay, leaving her propertyless with no means of rebuilding. Tibbot-na-Long submitted.
Bingham was charged with imposing the composition in Connacht. In 1585 he held the first session in Mayo. Some of the Bourkes refused to attend and barricaded themselves in Hag’s Castle at Lough Mask, which Bingham promptly attacked and demolished. Later that year, following the death of the MacWilliam, Bingham conferred the title and lands on MacOliverus’s eldest son, over the claim of tánaiste Edmund Bourke of Castlebar. The Bourkes rose in rebellion, joined by among others the Uí Máilles, and secretly by Gráinne’s son-in-law Richard ‘the Devil’s Hook’ Bourke. Bingham ordered his brother John to seize the lands of Gráinne’s son Owen. Gráinne later testified that Owen offered hospitality, and in return had been ‘fast bound . . . [and] cruelly murdered having twelve deadly wounds’. Bingham claimed that Owen ‘being prisoner . . . made his escape and in pursuit was slain’.
Incensed by the killing of her son, Gráinne became an active rebel against Bingham, who dispatched John to capture her and seize her property. Gráinne was released on the pledge of the Devil’s Hook, who immediately openly joined the rebellion. Gráinne fled to Ulster, whether to seek aid or because ‘fear compelled her to fly by sea’ is open to speculation. She was forced to remain in exile for three months as a result of storm damage to her fleet.
By late 1587 the Bourke rebellion had collapsed, and Bingham was sent to Flanders to aid the Dutch against Spain. In his absence, Gráinne sailed for Dublin and appealed to Sir John Perrot, who granted her, and her children, full pardon for past offences. In 1588 Spain launched its Armada against England. Fearing that the Spanish would land in Ireland and unite with rebellious chieftains, the Crown recalled Bingham and replaced Perrot with Sir William Fitzwilliam. Bingham issued orders to seek out and kill any survivors, playing close attention to the Devil’s Hook’s territory.
In 1589 the final Bourke rebellion ignited when Bingham ordered troops ‘to prosecute and followe all and every of the said traytors . . . yt shall be lawful for you . . . to praie, burn and spolie’. Open conflict flared. Gráinne ‘byrned and spoyled the isles of Aran’. Connacht was in turmoil. Elizabeth ordered Fitzwilliam to make peace with the Bourkes, and he, in turn, tried to rein Bingham in. The Bourkes, along with English officials, presented a list of charges against Bingham, who was tried and acquitted in 1590.
On his return to Connacht, Gráinne bore the brunt of Bingham’s rage. While she was at sea he devastated her lands at Carraigahowley. On learning that her son, Murrough-na-Moar, had sided with Bingham, she ‘burned his towen and spoiled his people of their cattayle and goods’. In 1592 Tibbot-na-Long initiated a rising and attacked Bingham. Gráinne again faced Bingham’s vengeance; he plundered her territory, impounded her fleet and stationed ships in Clew Bay, leaving her propertyless with no means of rebuilding. Tibbot-na-Long submitted.