GRANUAILE
Another tale is told of her being besieged in Hen's castle by a force from Galway. Conditions had badly deteriorated under the tight siege but Grainne was determined not to surrender. The castle's roof was made of lead and on her orders it was stripped and melted down. The following bombardment drove the English back to the mainland to carry out the siege from there. After dark she sent someone through a secret passage to the mainland and lit a series of beacons she had set up. Her fleet put to sea, overcame the English and lifted the siege.
By Brehon law a widow of a chieftain was entitled to one third her husband's estates but this was seldom actually paid (much like alimony today). With her two sons grown and trying to secure their own place she returned to O'Malley territory with 200 followers, many of whom had been her husband's. She set up on Clare Island in Clew Bay. In this ideal setting she could monitor virtually all the ship traffic going along the coast. Between piracy, charging for safe passage and providing pilots she did very well for herself and her followers.
The meeting
Grainne speaks at meeting.
The Gráinne Mhaol Project
The project will feature a large indoor production in The Festival Big Top in the Fisheries Field, which will run for six nights as part of the 25th Galway Arts Festival. This production has an ensemble cast of 18 professional performers and a voluntary community cast of 50 people. The project will also be characterized by street events which will happen unannounced throughout the city centre at various times and in various locations during the first week of the festival. These street activities will be directed by Judith Higgins and will feature over 250 performers and drummers.
Declan Gibbons - General Manager - Macnas - July 2002
Press Reviews
31 July 2002
The Pirate Queen is visually stunning thoughout
Granauile: The Pirate Queen
Reviewed by Amy Elias, Web Assistant on the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire
Website
The weather decided to hold for Granauile: The Pirate Queen in Coventry's
Cathedral ruins.
The performance was based loosely on the legend of Grace O'Mally with
the Irish theatre company Macnas bringing the legend to life.
Grace O'Mally was a chieftain, pirate, mother and lover. The notorious
woman was both known and feared for her courageous spirit and leadership.
Set in 16th century Ireland, the play focused around the trials and tribulations
of the clans and their struggle to overcome British rule under Elizabeth
I. Grace O'Mally led the tribes in their struggle and took them to sea
to disrupt the British plans.
Fun in Spain
Grace O'Mally was played by three different women during the performance
and the strongest performance was from the middle of the three, when she
led her clan into battle.
It was still light at the beginning of the performance at 8:30pm, so the
lighting was not very dramatic at the beginning and the actors merged
with the audience a bit too much. However, as it got darker the lighting
was used effectively to spotlight the characters and create a sense of
a stage in the centre of the cathedral ruins.
The subtle use of music also gave the performance atmosphere throughout,
with sound effects adding to the imaginary space.
I thought the drumming was excellent as it brought a lot of energy and
drama to every scene.
Visually the performance was very high quality. Large scale structures,
drumming, stilts, music and masks created an all round stunning visual
experience. The costumes in the scene in which the Queen meets Grace O'Mally
were fantastic. The Queen's dress was about 10ft high. Apparently this
construction got soaked during the rain storm on Tuesday but there was
no sign of damage on the magnificent structure when I saw it.
O'Mally's was a red pirate ship construction, which again was superb.
The costumes of the Queen's men and women, including Sir Francis Drake,
were like something out of Alice in Wonderland.
A combination of professional and community actors worked well together
in the performance.
Local actors from Coventry and Warwickshire performed. It was difficult
to distinguish the theatre group Macnas from the local actors. The acting
was superb all-round.
The community actor, Terry Doyle, who was also in Belgrade's production
of The Wedding was excellent in his role as one of the McDonell clan leaders.
The production was mainly in Gaelic and although it was very visual with
a lot of miming and action, I felt the plot was quite hard to follow at
times.
For a performance of this type when people are standing in an open space,
I felt that it was slightly too long at 1 hour 30 minutes. I think that
if the plot had been more concise, the production could have been cut
down to 50 minutes, which would have had more impact.
This minor criticism aside, I thought it was an excellent performance.
It was worth going to see for the costumes alone - they were totally superb.
It's well worth going to see, but I think I should have taken a chair
for comfort and a brolly just in case it had rained!
Next year the Millennium Mysteries 2003 will be a co-production between
Macnas and the Belgrade Theatre. We will have details to follow in the
Autumn.
Intensity
Memories
I invite all participants and/or those who saw the show to enter their memories into this space. Photos of the show most welcome.
or e-mail me at :
