The Pirate Queen & Belleek Castle

Statue of Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen of Ireland

Did you know that Ireland had a Pirate Queen? I didn't. But goodness, she was a true pirate and a rebel during Queen Elizabeth's time (late 16th century). I've become so enamored, I've named a character in my Irish Jane Austen styled novel, after Grainne Ni Mhaille (Granuaile O'Malley, aka Grace O'Malley), the pirate queen, and the children tell numerous stories of her exploits.

For the full history of the Pirate Queen, I recommend wikipedia, or this man's far more humorous version filled with proper swear words and scenarios that even Ni Mhaille might find offensive, but still appreciate. Bad Ass of the Week.com - Great blog!

How did I learn about the Pirate Queen while in Ireland? I walked into her bedroom.

Belleek Castle in Ballina

Map of Ireland with Ballina dotted - Home to Belleek Castle and it's 1000 acres of woodlands

First, a quick game of connections:
    -We were staying with our Irish friends at their castle in County Mayo, Turin Castle 

Turin Castle

    -Turin is an old "de Burgh," aka, "de Burgo," aka "Bourke" castle. One of many that dots the western coast of Ireland. The Bourke's were a powerful merchant family.
    -Another Bourke castle is Rockfleet Castle, which was essentially stolen by the Pirate Queen.

Rockfleet Castle - Look similar?

How does a Pirate steal a castle? Pirates only steal things on the seas, right?

Here's the quick story:

By 1566 Gráinne Ní Mháille had married a second time, this time to Risdeárd an Iarainn Bourke, called "Iron Richard," an appropriate corruption of his Irish name as he is reputed to have always worn a coat of mail inherited from his Anglo-Norman ancestors. The nickname may also have come from the fact that he controlled the ironworks at Burrishoole, where his principal castle and residence were.

NOTE: The mother of my fictional Irish family is a Bourke and the family income is made by ironworks. Why bother making stuff up when the truth is far more interesting.

Back to the quick story:

Traditionally it is said that the Bourke marriage was motivated by Ní Mháille's desire to enlarge her holdings and her prestige. Bourke was owner of Rockfleet Castle, also called Carraigahowley Castle (Much cooler name!), which was strategically situated near Newport, as well as other lands like Burrishoole, with sheltered harbors in which a pirate ship could hide.

According to tradition they married under Brehon law 'for one year certain', and it is said that when the year was up Gráinne divorced Risdeárd and kept the castle. Brehon Law is another crazy Irish world, which amazingly still exists today in some really remote West Ireland towns. The Brehon Law basically lets you live together for a year as a trial marriage. (Personally, I think this is a great idea!)

Legend says that when the one year had passed, Gráinne Ní Mháille and her followers locked themselves in Rockfleet Castle and Gráinne called out a window to Bourke, "Richard Bourke, I dismiss you." Those words had the effect of ending the marriage, but since she was in possession of the castle she kept it. Rockfleet remained for centuries in the O'Mháille (O'Malley) family and is today open to the public.

Despite the divorce story, Ní Mháille and Bourke appear mentioned as husband and wife in English documents of the period, so appeared to remain married, at least allied, as far as the English were concerned. In her answers to the questions from Queen Elizabeth I (Yes, there were infamous Queen to Queen negotiations), Ní Mháille said she was Bourke's widow.

NOTE: There is now a Pirate Queen story my fictional Irish daughter (of marriageable age) tells to the family. He-he! Yes, demands for Brehon Law might be requested! She's a feisty daughter.

The Pirate Queen's Bedroom

In steps Belleek Castle and the owner, Paul Marshall Doran.

Belleek Castle - Bar - Made from real pirate ships!

We were honored to dine at Belleek Castle with the owner, his lovely wife, our friends and the castle accountant, which proved immensely educational on many fronts. (But that's a whole other post.)

FYI - Dinner at Belleek is pretty darn amazing; all around 5-star inventiveness, fresh greens from the castle gardens and gorgeous presentation.

Filet Mignon's skewered on a Spanish Sword and flambeed. Magnificient!

The dining room is a Spanish Galleon Ship (yep, a real one) which was my first introduction to Pirate architecture. 

This is the upper deck of the dining room. You can see the tables and chairs below on the lower deck of the ship.

Then the owner took us on a tour of this amazing pirate ship castle. We saw interior wooden panels with carvings of New World caricatures, like Native Americans, Merchants, Traders, etc, ancient treasure chests, canon balls, ship models, captain's quarters, and rum!

Belleek Castle - another bar - loaded with real ship pieces. 

 Then we got a private tour of the recently organized collection.

Belleek recently opened a museum inside the castle showcasing the family collection.

And there it was, Grace O'Malley's bedroom!

But it gets better. Not only did I get to meet Grace O'Malley (figuratively), feel the walls and smell the stories of 500 year old pirate ships, but then we got to play, yes PLAY, in the armory. 

Brenden (friend) and Wes (husband) handling 13th century swords.

Wes said afterward, "I knew I shouldn't be touching something so historical and precious, but I really wanted to touch it."

Then the owner gave them proper head gear and the battle began!

We decided that Wes chopped off Brendan's leg (see previous picture) and declared him the winner.

The owner demonstrated how to properly attack with two swords. 

Not only did we get to play with swords, but we learned how to properly handle them like a proper pirate. Not your standard night out, huh? (Yes, I'm gloating a bit here.)

So, in one night, I learned enough history and experienced a tantalizing dance of the senses that now allows me to spin fun (& fact) filled pirate tales by a fictional Irish fireside.

If you're on the west coast of Ireland, get thee to Belleek Castle!

Back at Turin Castle, our friends honored us with the Lord and Lady suite for the weekend, which is the entire top floor of the CASTLE, so yes, it's amazing. And surprise, surprise - on the bookshelf sat Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility by my favorite gal, Jane Austen.

Turin Castle - Lord and Lady Suite bookshelf of classics, including Austen.

But, surprise, surprise, the books weren't real. Instead the bookcase swung open, gothic style and revealed a secret passage!

Secret passage behind the bookcase!

Is the secret passage featured in my fictional book? Of course it is! Where does the passage lead? You'll have to stay at Turin Castle (You can rent it) to find out for yourself. Or read my book when it's done.

Bottom line - Get out into the world! As a writer, your imagination is a great place to create the world of your novel. But your novel will be so much better if it's inspired by the real world and the real history you are attempting to portray. 

Belvedere House - Location In My Jane Austen Ireland Book

Belvedere House, Lough Ennell, just south of Mullingar in central Ireland

I've been happily buzzing along in the writing of my new Jane Austen styled novel which I've set in Ireland in 1802, and I came across an interesting problem. Like all Jane Austen stories, my country family must travel to town for the social season. So I need to move my family from Athlone to Dublin.

This meant I needed to research the roads of Ireland in 1800, which carriage a family of high status might use, and where they might stop in the middle of their 90 mile journey. Fortunately, Ireland has amazing online archives and I was able to download such items as Taylor and Skinner's Maps of the Roads of Ireland - Surveyed in 1777.

I was able to map out exactly which roads they might take, the quality of the roads, the number of turnpikes, which was a charge for maintenance of a section of road where a man literally collected tolls and opened a gate to let you pass, and which distances were reasonable within a day, changing horses every 10-12 miles at the Irish equivalent of a coaching Inn.

I also read a tremendous amount about The Highway Act passed by Irish Parliament in 1614. I was amazed to learn that Ireland had a better system of roads than England during the Georgian era (1714-1830).





As quoted from a young English traveler in the 1780s:

"...for a country so very far behind us as Ireland to have got suddenly so much the start of us in the article of roads is a spectacle that cannot fail to strike the English traveller exceedingly."

So I plotted my characters route from Athlone to Dublin and found a central town for the family to stay the night. 

Map is from the Irish archive of roads in 1714. It's a fun map to play with if you desire.

Then I decided that my high class family would prefer to stay at someone's estate versus a coaching inn within the town of Mullingar. This led me to look at my DK Ireland guide and see if there were any interesting estates in the area. There are several! 

One of the houses has a fabulous history of a wicked Earl locking away his wife for thirty years and architectural mayhem due to jealousy over a brother's estate. So I chose Belvedere House, only a 1/2 hour carriage ride south of Mullingar as the family estate to host my characters for the night.

Ariel view of Belvedere House, Lough Ennell and gardens/woods

Thankfully, Belvedere House is now a public attraction and has a great website. So I looked at a bunch of pictures and read several different historical accounts of the house. 

I really like these curved wall rooms.

I decided to set a scene at the front entrance of the house, in a bedroom, and a drawing room which has these curved walls on the end. I found these historical interior shots for inspiration, although the furniture is too modern for 1802, the cornice and ceiling work is very similar to what I saw in other Georgian homes in Ireland.

Belvedere House Interior of curved wall drawing room.

Belvedere House Interior of another room.

Then I investigated the gardens and found a wonderful story about a ruined abbey folly in the gardens that was built by the wicked Earl to obstruct his view of his older brother's more magnificent estate. I thought this would be a great place for my young heroine to meet her first suitor. Jane Austen has a flair for dramatic entrances, so I thought I'd continue her tradition.

Ruined Abbey Folly at Belvedere House - called "The Jealous Wall."

What better place for two young lovers to first meet, than at "The Jealous Wall." Am I hinting at a wee bit of foreshadowing? Maybe...

Using locations to inspire stories - Woohoo! 

This Novel Travelist is signing off until next time.

Discovering a Jane Austen Story in Ireland

Writer's Tears Irish Whiskey - I needed this when I decided to embark on an entirely different book!

I just returned from a month in Ireland, where I planned to research a totally different book then what I ended up with. If any of you have ever participated in NaNoWriMo.com, National Novel Writing Month, where you write an entire novel in November, then you understand the adrenaline rush of finding a story and running with it. Well, I did that during a vacation. 

I entered Ireland for my fifth research trip with a planned itinerary for a novel I’ve been working on for years. Then I landed and entered my regency era Dublin hotel in the middle of Georgian Dublin and BOOM - Jane Austen was stuck in my head for the entire month!

I chucked my itinerary and researched a Jane Austen styled book to be set in Ireland in 1802, just after the Act of Union, which disbanded the Irish Parliament and greatly reduced the number of eligible bachelors for the “Social Season” in Dublin.

But first, why Jane Austen popped into my head upon landing in Ireland. I’ve been obsessed with Jane Austen for the past six months, ever since I saw a production of Jane Austen Unscripted by Impro Theater. 

This is an improv theater company that performs long form narrative plays - as in they improvise an ENTIRE PLAY every evening. The genre is already stated, like Jane Austen, Western or Twilight Zone, etc., and then the play is based upon an audience suggestion, like “Purple ribbon,” or “Kidney pie.” I saw four productions and was so dazzled I signed up for improv classes. Reminder - I’m a writer and a scientist. Me standing up on stage causes severe heart palpitations, sweat stains and enormous grins of fear. But good golly, those improv classes are the happiest days of my life! I’m so excited to start again tomorrow night! The entire world should go to Improv classes. It makes you a better person. But that’s another blog post.

For the past six months, I’ve been rereading Jane Austen’s books and everything related. See reading list below:

So I guess it’s really no surprise that Ireland inspired a Jane Austen styled story and my original book has been side lined. Thankfully, NaNoWriMo.com offers Camp NaNoWriMo during April and July, so woohoo, I’m writing my novel during the month of July. 

Since this blog is about using real locations in novels, you'll get the inside scoop on the real locations I'm using in my upcoming novel temporarily titled: Tolerance & Temperance. Just kidding. I'm really going with A Lady's Troubles. Um... Nope, not that either. Okay, you can help me name the novel. Think Sense & Sensibility meets Pride & Prejudice in Ireland. Go!

The novel opens at these two locations:

Muckross House. Photo by me. The weather in Ireland was stunning this trip. 

Muckross House is located in South West Ireland in Killarney National Park. I took a tour of the house and decided to use it as the model for the big country estate of my Anglo-Irish Protestant family with three daughters and one young sickly son. In my story the estate will be located near the city of Athlone, about 50 miles west of Dublin. The travel distances in Jane Austen novels are typically about 20 - 50 miles. Killarney is 150 miles from Dublin, so keeping the estate in it's real location can't happen. However I'm researching the Athlone area of 1802 to confirm that the industry and estate operations could be similar to that of Muckross.

Turin Castle. Photo by me. 

Turin Castle (which can be rented) is located in West Ireland, near Cong. We’ve spent many a joyful evening here, so I know it well. However in 1802, most of Ireland’s castles were in ruins because England destroyed them due to fears of Catholic military strongholds. Bummer! Not long ago Turin Castle was also a ruin. But thankfully our friends, Brendan & Marnie, restored it to the historical magnificience it is today. Seriously, click on the Turin website and check out the interior. It's an amazing time warp. So in 1802, the daughters and son will play at the romantic castle ruins, but imagine themselves Lord and Lady of the fully restored magnificient castle. 

Interior of Muckross Abbey bell tower in Killarney. That's Wes, my husband.

I wanted to imagine Turin as a ruin, but more than just from pictures. I needed to feel and smell the mossy stones, and see the bird's nests in the empty beam holes that once held floor boards. So we ventured into as many old ruins as we could find. Muckross Abbey, also in Killarney National Park, was a great example to explore for this purpose.

Banquet Hall of Turin Castle - Music Session.
I've never seen anyone rock out with a mandolin. Awesome!

Gathering a bit Irish culture to color the story, we were honored to partake in a music session at Turin Castle. My wealthy Anglo-Irish Jane Austen characters will play their harp and piano forte, but one of the girls might learn of a more interesting Irish tradition that lures her toward a rebellious intrigue with a celtic drum. 

Upcoming novel locations will be Georgian Dublin, Aran Islands, Belleek Castle and the seaside town of Howth.

If you've got a name for the novel - toss it at me. Please!