The Irish Pirate Queen - Gráinne O'Mhaol

Grace O'Malley also known as Gráinne Ní Mhaol was a 16th Century pirate known for defending the Irish lands and coastlines from the British and challenged the British occupation in Ireland.

Legend has it that she got her name "Maol" - which is the Irish word for bald or cropped hair - because when she was young and her father told her the seafaring business wasn't for girls because a girls hair would get caught in the ropes, Gráinne cut off her hair.

After inheriting her fathers business, she later commanded 20 ships and hundreds of men in raids against rival clans and merchant ships. As a threat to the Tudor conquest of Ireland she actually once met face to face with Queen Elizabeth I of England. Fighting over independence and Irish lands made these two Queens enemies, but also both powerful political and military leaders of men.

Gráinne risked imprisonment and execution by meeting with Queen Elizabeth to petition for the freedom of her brother and her son and to restore some independence. It's written that Gráinne did not bow to Queen Elizabeth and rejected the title of Countess, saying that a title cannot be conferred from one equal to another. She's also said to have offended the Queen after using a handkerchief to blow her nose and throwing it in the fire. She was told it was disrespectful to throw such a gift away and Gráinne confidently defended the Irish way of throwing a used handkerchief away.

By the end of their encounter Queen Elizabeth ordered that all charges on the O'Malley clan be dropped and restored much of her lands and influence.

Sources:
http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/grace-o-malley-16th-century-pirate-queen-ireland-001773
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Elizabeth-I-Grace-OMallley-Irish-Pirate-Queen