They call her the pirate queen but when she was young she was told there was no place on a ship for a woman because her hair would get caught in the rigging. So in an act of youthful defiance she cut of all her hair and was then known as Gráinne Mhaol or Bald Grace. Patrick Pearse invoked her spirit through the song Óró Sé Do Bheatha Bhaile and through this song we also celebrate her defiance.
Lyrics
She's a legend Gráinne Mhaol
Before ever she set sail
Her Da said you're goin nowhere
But then she cut off all her hair!
And do you think that Gráinne Mhaol
That first time she set sail
Knew that we would call her name
Everytime we’d fall in pain?
Do you think that she heard Pearse
As he sang her name so fierce?
Did her spirit really rise
Over Anna Liffey skies?
Gráinne Mhaol x4
Do you think she hears us now
As the waves crash on her bow?
If we hold her name in trust
Will her strength come back to us?
Gráinne Mhaol x4
Do you think that Gráinne Mhaol
On the first time she set sail
Knew that we would call her name
Everytime we’d fall in pain.