Upon hearing the Grainne had gone to court Bingham had sent a letter denoucing her again as a 'notable traitour'. There is no doubt that Grainne excelled herself in her meeting with Elizabeth. Shortly after the meeting, on the 6th of September 1593 the Queen wrote to Bingham:

Where our Treazurer of England, by his letters in July last, did inform you of the being here of three several persons of that our Province of Connaught under your charge, that is, of Sir Morogh O'Flaherty, Knight, Grany ne Maly and Roobuck French requiring to understand your opinion of every of them concerning their suits; we perceive by your late letters of answer what your opinion is of them, and their causes of complaint or of suit, whereof you have given them no just cause.

But where Grany ne Maly hath made humble suit to us for our favour towards her sons, Morogh O'Flaherty and Tibbott Burk, and to her brother Donell O'Piper, that they might be at liberty, we perceive by your letters that her eldest son, Morogh O'Flaherty, is no trouble but is a principal man of his country, and as a dutiful subject hath served us when his mother, being them accompanied with a number of disorderly persons, did with her 'gallyes' despoil him; and therefore by you favoured, and so we wish you to continue. But the second son, Tibbott Burk, one that hath been brought up civilly with your brother and can speak English, is by you justly detained because he hath been accused to have written a letter to Bryan O'Rork, the late traitor's son, though it cannot be fully proved but is by him utterly denied; and for her brother Donald, he hath been imprisoned 7 months past, being charged to have been in company of certain that killed some soldiers in a ward. But for those two you think they may be both dismissed upon bonds for their good behaviour, wherewith we are content, so as the old woman may understand we yield thereto in regard of her humble suit; so she is hereof informed and departeth with great thankfulness and with many more earnest promises that she will, as long as she lives continue a dutiful subject, yea, and will employ all her power to offend and prosecute any offender against us. And further, for the pity to be had of this aged woman, having not by the custom of the Irish any title to any livelihood or position of portion of her two husband's lands, now being a widow; and yet her sones enjoying their father's lands, we require you to deal with her sons in our name to yield to her some maintainance for her living the rest of her old years, which you may with persuasion assure them that we shall theirin allow of them; and you also shall with your favour in all their good causes protect them to live in peace to enjoy their livelihoods. And this we do write in her favour as she showeth herself dutiful, although she hath in former times lived out of order, as being charged by our Treasurer with the evil usage of her son that served us dutifully. She hath confessed the same with assured promises by oath to continue most dutiful, with offer, after her aforesaid manner, and that she will fight in our quarrel with all the world.

The Gráinne Mhaol - Biog: Kathi Leahy

Kathi trained at Rose Bruford College and is currently an Associate Artist of the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, and Artistic Director of Shaskeen Irish Arts Organisation.

Work for Shaskeen as writer and director, includes I’ll Tell Me Ma, Terrible Beauty, Banshees, The Wedding and Sceal Mor, Maha Katha – a co-production with Chitraleka Bolar and company.

Previous work with the Belgrade Theatre includes The Wedding for which she received an Irish Post Award, The Twits (March 1999 with Harrogate Theatre, December 1999 with Sherman Theatre, Cardiff followed by a national tour of Britain in 2000/01), Fantastic Mr. Fox and the Millenium Mysteries at Coventry Cathedral. The Twits played in The Cork Opera House in June 2001 as did The Wedding in June of this year.

This is Kathi’s first production with Macnas.

Media Reviews

Macnas To Take Swashbuckling To The Streets In Grainne Mhaol.

Galway Advertiser July 11 - Una Sinnott

Macnas is well known for its large scale productions, particularly the annual parade which has been an integral part of the Galway Arts Festival for many years. However, this year the familiar spectacle of the Macnas parade will be replaced with a series of street performances based on the life of the infamous Grainne Mhaol, along with a major indoor production outlining the major events which shaped both Grainne's life and Ireland's turbulent history during the sixteenth century.

With a cast of some 250 professional and voluntary actors, along with more than 150 crew members, Grilinne Mhaol is the largest Macnas production to date. Its opening at the Galway Arts Festival on Monday July 15 will see the culmination of 18 months' preparation. The cast is currently putting the final touches on the mammoth performance at the Black Box Theatre, where rehearsals take place for 14 hours each day to facilitate the huge number of people who must run through their lines.

The periphery of the space is dominated by the monumental pieces which will replace a conventional set in the Festival Big Top. The production will follow the same fluid use of the performance space as Macnas' 1996 production of Rhymes from the Ancient Mariner, but with a seated, stationary audience.

Part of a pirate ship sits across the room from a massive multicoloured creation, apparently an ostentatious dress for Queen Elizabeth I, the skirt of which towers over the proceedings in one corner of the space. However the massive set pieces, creative costumes, masks, drummers, and stilt walkers in Grilinne Mhaol are all staples the Macnas mix of drama and visual impact.
"The big difference is that we started in February," explains Judith Higgins, Macnas' performance director. She is currently directing the 12 street performances, and working as assistant director on the central indoor drama.

"We had a volunteer meeting at the end of January. Normally we would have it in June. We really didn't know how people would respond, but then 400 people turned up. It has been brilliant in the sense that the community has been working together since the end of January. With the parade it would be just six weeks of rehearsals whereas this has been six months. It's the first time we have had such a big professional cast as well

Next week's production will feature 12 different outdoor scenarios, with six impromptu performances on the streets of the city centre each day and the central drama taking place at 9pm every evening in the Big Top. Unlike the carefully mapped out street parades of previous years, performers are likely to appear at any time and would-be viewers of the street theatre are advised to keep their eyes and ears open.

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

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jim Aherne