It was from Clare Island that the pirate queen Grace O'Malley patrolled the western seaboard, and traces of her existence litter this fascinating enclave, writes LORRAINE COURTNEY
QUEEN ELIZABETH I must have wondered at the pluck of the big woman from Clare Island standing before her on a summer's afternoon in 1593. Few Irish rebel leaders have chanced setting foot on English soil. But this woman sailed straight up the River Thames.
Grace O'Malley was at war with English lords attempting to control Connacht. She decided to sail to London and put her case directly to the queen. Official records tell little of what went on. They do note, however, that the women chatted in Latin, as O'Malley didn't speak English and the queen had no Irish. Afterwards, Elizabeth requested Lord Bingham to leave O'Malley be. Perhaps the English monarch fully understood the pirate queen's plight, given the scrapes in which she became embroiled during her first years in the job.
Pirate leader, chief of the O'Malley clan and director of land forces, Grace O'Malley was principally a trader who, at the height of her career, controlled much of the Irish west coast. She traded with Spain, Portugal and Scotland, and fought rival clans and the English forces sent to bring Connacht under control. At the height of her command she held 11 castles and a fleet that included captured Turkish corsairs. Exploits include dissolving her Celtic secular marriage to her second husband by slamming the castle door in his face and stealing his castles – girl power before it had a name.
Battered by Atlantic storms, Clare Island's harbour is still guarded by O'Malley's solid castle, a square shelter crowned by two chimneys, its slit windows commanding strategic views of Clew Bay and its alleged 365 islands – one for every day of the year. Irish tower houses were usually designed to a standard plan: rectangular, three stories high with a vault over the ground level and topped by a pitched slate or thatched roof. The main living room is at first-floor level with access to the bartizans. The castle was converted into a police barracks in about 1826, which is probably when the purple slate flashing was added. The white sandy beach beside the castle has a Blue and a Green flag.
If you take the fork in the road beyond the pier marked "All Routes" you'll come to the village and the remains of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey. It's an imposing structure with Gothic windows in the shape of lighting candles. The yard is crammed with the graves of generations of O'Malleys. Inside, on one wall, is the stone tracery of a tomb and a plaque carved with the Latin adage Terra maris potens (Powerful by land and sea). This is the O'Malley coat of arms and the tomb of the pirate queen.
Some of Europe's finest medieval murals watch over O'Malley; a dragon, griffins, preying wolves, hounds, harpers, cattle raiders and a Norman knight climb up the walls and across the chapel's ceiling. The painting technique used is often wrongly classified as fresco, as the paintings were applied on the dry (or mostly dry) plaster and possibly on to a fresh limewash layer. The main drawings were first mapped out by incised lines like a simple sketch. After this prepared draft, the colours were applied with different paintbrushes.
Nowadays, the very thin paint layer reveals mainly three colours, black, red and yellow. Monks probably painted them centuries before Granuaile died in 1603. Oddly, they include only one religious figure, the archangel Michael. The russet and crimson paint has faded and too much is missing to decipher what story the imagery told. Some of the paintings were plastered over in a Counter-Reformation attack on these secular images. Unadvertised, untended and largely unvisited, the paintings are astonishing and more than justify a visit to Clare. Bernie Winters, in the house by the shop, acts as keeper of the keys for the OPW.
An intriguing feature of the abbey is a niche opening outwards from the north wall of the chancel, connecting inside via a small peephole. The local name of Teach na mBan, meaning house of the women, suggests some sort of female monastic presence or a segregation of the female from the male congregation. It could also have been a leper squint. A line of strong lintel stones caps the small space and the wall has been filled with rubble where a gap was made to insert the O'Malley armourial plaque.
Then it's to the fine lighthouse. Built as a beacon to guide shipping through these treacherous seas, it has, arguably, the best views on the island. It is now privately owned and the main house and original round tower are being renovated. Island rumours put the selling price at €1 million. Wow. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough dough in the public purse to buy it. The builders agree to let me take a look, so I climb the narrow spiral staircase to gaze over Ireland's fourth-largest gannetry and sea cliffs that plunge vertically into irascible waves.
Inland it's all undulating fields divided by ancient drystone walls and fringed with furze and wild irises. The island commonage is encircled by a seemingly endless stone wall. It kept the men of Clare in work for a few hard winters. You can clearly make out the outlines of abandoned pre-Famine potato ridges, or lazy beds, as they're called. They serve as an evocative reminder of the crop's failure and the event that halved Clare Island's population of 1,600.
RL Praeger's renowned Clare Island survey of 1909-11 was the most ambitious natural-history project undertaken in Ireland, as well as the world's first significant biological survey of a specific area. It was first published in April 1915. Last May was its centenary and President Mary McAleese was on the island to celebrate. The "new" survey is still ongoing. On Clare, there are cormorants, kittiwakes, fulmars and gannets. You might also spot kestrels and barnacle geese. The peregrine falcon's piercing cry is often heard as it patrols the northern cliffs in search of prey. Pink flowers of sea thrift bloom in the seabird colonies. The insectivorous sundew thrives in pockets of bogland. Ragged robin, common spotted orchid and fuchsia dress the hedgerows. Otters and seals bob among the waves, and a pod of bottlenose dolphins patrols Clew Bay.
The islands off the west of Ireland have always been regarded as a sanctuary of Irish identity. But be under no illusion: the boom times invaded Clare, too. Yet in visiting these satellites that seem so much like home and yet are somewhat alien, we negotiate the threshold between home and abroad, inside and outside, self and other.
Where to stay and where to go if you're planning to make a visit to Clare Island
Where to stay
There are a number of good BBs on Clare Island, including Cois Abhainn (098-26216), Granuaile House (098-26250, www.granuailehouse.net), Kieran and Ann McCabe (098-25106), O’Grady’s Guesthouse (098-22991, www.ogradysguesthouse.com), and Seabreeze (098-26746). Rates start at €30pps; a four-course dinner costs €30-€35.
Three farms on Clare Island welcome Woofers (that’s Willing Workers on Organic Farms). Woofers work on the farm in exchange for their room and board. Check out www.clareisland.info/
wwofing.html.
Where to go
The Bard Summer School explores ancient Irish myths through music, song, dance and drama. It’s held every Thursday night during July and part of August. www.bard.ie.
Clare Island Regatta on July 19th is a festival of currach racing, yawl racing and children’s sports on the beach.
See www.clareisland.info for more on events and the island in general.
How to get around
Walking is a good option. The island covers just 15sq km.
There are bikes for hire in the house by the pier. Bridget O’Leary (098-25640), who ferries children to and from the island’s school in winter, uses her minibus for sightseeing tours in summer.
Go there
The Island Princess and Ocean Star are operated by the O’Malleys (098-25045, www.omalleyferries.com). They are possibly related to the pirates of the same name, but with luck this lot won’t make you walk the plank. In fact, they’re perfect hosts and operate year-round sailings from Roonagh Quay. A return trip is €15 for adults and €5 for children.
Lorraine Courtney travelled to Clare Island as a guest of Fáilte Ireland and O’Malleys Ferries