Cindy Vallar's Blog - Posts Tagged "ireland"

Raider's Wake: A Novel of Viking Age Ireland by James L. Nelson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Book six of The Norsemen Saga begins with the return of Conandil, who appears in an earlier volume. No longer a thrall, she is married to an Irish chieftain’s son. When Irish raiders attack their ringfort, she and her husband, as well as others, are driven to the beach where they are beset from the sea by Norsemen. Rather than become a slave again, she fights with her husband. But one of the Vikings thwarts her desire for a quick death and she is once again bound for the slave pens in Dubh-linn. There she, her husband, and the other captives are sold to a Frisian merchant who plans to sell them at a slave market in his homeland.

Lord of Vík-ló, Thorgrim Ulfsson is sick of Ireland, the Irish, and the eternal rain that plagues the country. Most of his men, including his son Harald Broadarm and beserker Starri Deathless, imbibe liberally when confined, so once the sun finally deigns to shine, Thorgrim announces it’s time to go a-viking. As his four longships prepare to set sail, he makes the unconscious decision to take their hoard with them. He has no intention of returning. Their first capture goes precisely as planned, but the victim is known to Thorgrim and is permitted to continue on his journey. First, though, he imparts knowledge of a Frisian merchant with three ships rumored to be heavily laden with treasure. Expecting these to be easy prey, Thorgrim and his men decide to lie in wait – but no one knows better than he that the gods can be fickle and one should never tempt fate.

Irish brigands ambush a traveling friar on his way to Dubh-linn, but they soon learn the error of their ways when he turns out to be adept with a sword. Once Louis de Roumois, the Frank who betrayed Thorgrim, dispatches the trio, he discards his disguise and continues on to the Norse longphort. He seeks passage home to bring his brother to account for banishing him to Ireland and then sending assassins to kill him. Louis knows nothing about ships and the sea, but he quickly discovers the vessel’s captain is a brutal madman whose thirst for wealth includes acquiring the silver Louis hides in his belongings.

A wealthy slave trader and master of a small, but fast, fleet of ships, Brunhard of Frisia loves to hear himself talk. He’s always thinking of ways to gain the most while losing the least. Such wily thinking and a no-holds-barred approach to dealing with his cargo is why he survives in an otherwise violent and often unpredictable world.

When the Norsemen spot the Frisian ships, the chase begins. Brunhard’s out-of-the-box maneuvers earn Thorgrim’s respect because the merchant is a savvy seaman. But one trick nearly destroys Sea Hammer, earning Thorgrim’s wrath and vow to make the man pay. The pursuit becomes a heart-pumping, careening-out-of-control thrill ride that leaves readers breathless and refuses to release them from its grip until the story ends.

Raider’s Wake is a welcome return to the sea, where Thorgrim once again demonstrates why Norsemen are remembered for their expert seamanship. What makes this an unforgettable and very believable tale are Nelson’s knowledge of and experience in sailing wooden ships. The nautical language adds a healthy dose of realism, but Nelson writes in a way that readers unfamiliar with the terminology still get the gist of what the sailors are doing. For those who wish to better understand, he provides a diagram of a longship and a glossary.

Although Harald Broadarm has played important roles in previous titles, he finally comes into his own in this one. He has matured over the series and has ably demonstrated both his bravery and skill at fighting. Yet now he finds himself in a command situation where his decisions and knowledge play a vital role in determining the fates of those aboard all the vessels.

Another crucial story element is the inclusion of two Irish women, Conandil and Failend. Rather than being mere window dressing, they are well-drawn characters who play critical warrior roles and they possess the determination to influence their own fates. As a result, Thorgrim makes some keen observations about women – ones that all men could learn from.

Front first page to last, Raider’s Wake is written by a master weaver who keeps readers spellbound and places them on the longship in the midst of the Vikings. This adventure is one treasure to savor and as memorable as, or even more so, than the Norsemen’s previous stories.




View all my reviews

Anne Bonny the Infamous Female Pirate by Phillip Thomas Tucker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ask for the name of a female pirate and Anne Bonny will inevitably be given. History has left us two main sources of information about this woman – Captain Charles Johnson’s A General History of the Pyrates and the account of her trial in Spanish Town, Jamaica in 1720. The former isn’t an entirely accurate history of famous pirates and the latter covers only a short period in Anne’s life that is primarily seen from the victims’ perspectives. Anne herself left no journal or diary detailing her life. Over the centuries, a number of books, mostly collections about women pirates, have included Anne, but author bias and cultural interpretations have sometimes intruded into these biographies. Dr. Tucker’s goal is to separate the mythology from Anne’s story to resurrect the real Anne Bonny and place her within the world in which she lived.

Anne Bonny begins in 1698 and lays the framework for who her parents were, how she came to be born, and how circumstances in Ireland eventually led to Anne and her parents emigrating to South Carolina. Subsequent chapters cover her life in that colony, her marriage to James Bonny, her move to the Bahamas, her love affair with Calico Jack Rackham, her life as a pirate, and her capture and trial. The account of her life concludes with what happened to her after she vanished from her gaol cell until her death in 1782. The narrative ends with a conclusion and endnotes. Maps and other blank-and-white illustrations are included throughout the book.

This book has a number of weaknesses. The absence of an actual bibliography and index make it difficult to locate information within the narrative. The format of the endnotes causes confusion as to which part of the narrative provided either the subject discussed or the quotation. Also, a few of the source materials cited here fall under the category of primary documentation. The majority are either secondary or tertiary resources; a few, such as Wikipedia and Answers.com, are questionable resources. Dr. Tucker incorporates source citations within the endnotes, but only the first usage includes the author, full title, and publication date. If the resource is a website, a URL is never provided and trying to locate it using a search engine is nearly impossible from the limited information that is provided.

Equally frustrating is the frequent use of language conveying hypothetical conclusions, such as likely, might, possibly, perhaps, maybe. In a non-fiction book that purports to set the record straight and to fill in the gaps, how can this be achieved without providing definitive historical evidence to back-up these claims? A subsection of chapter two is “Dynamic Irish Women”, yet the first woman role model discussed is Joan of Arc, who was French. If Anne knew of Grace O’Malley, who was Irish, her story may have inspired Anne as Dr. Tucker claims.

Several of his points also raise red flags. On page 49, Anne was “unaware that piracy was a most dangerous profession.” Captain William Kidd’s imprisonment, trial, and execution in 1701 were big news back then and Anne was not illiterate. Newspapers and broadsheets often carried tales of pirate attacks. The zenith of bringing pirates to justice and executing them may not have been reached at the time Anne became a pirate, but she was associating with them in the taverns of New Providence when Woodes Rogers was tasked with the job of ridding the pirates from the Caribbean. How could she not have known piracy was dangerous?

Two other examples pertain to Edward Teach or Blackbeard. On page 56, Dr. Tucker writes, “Some scant evidence exists that even Edward Teach . . . was of mixed black and white ancestry.” Ten pages later this becomes a rumor and that he was “a light-skinned mulatto,” yet no evidence is provided to support or discount this – why include a rumor in the first place? As to Dr. Tucker’s claim that Anne “might well have seen Blackbeard on the sandy streets” of Nassau, this is highly improbable. Anne didn’t arrive there until November 1718 and in November Blackbeard was in the environs of the Carolinas and was slain on 22 November.

On the other hand, this book provides an interesting perspective of Anne and how cultural influences and societal attitudes may have influenced her life and her decisions. It also shows her as a typical teenager, experiencing the angst of growing up and living in patriarchal societies where religion and on which side of the tracks you were born played a role in who and what you could be, especially if you were female. Dr. Trucker also does a commendable job expressing why society feared Anne and what she represented.




View all my reviews

The Lockwoods of Clonakilty by Mark Bois

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


According to the doctors, he should be dead, but God and Lieutenant James Lockwood have other plans. Wounded at Waterloo, he returns to Clonakilty, Ireland to begin the slow road to recovery. His beloved wife, Brigid, and his five children, as well as their housekeeper, tend to his needs and get reacquainted with him after his long absence fighting the French. But the Ireland he left is not the same, and the peace he so desperately seeks is elusive. Rebels violently interrupt a dinner party at his father’s house and taunting letters threaten his family.

Charles Barr, once a captain in the British army, has been court-martialed and dismissed from service. He blames Lockwood for his disgrace – an added layer to the enmity he already feels for the lieutenant who married Brigid, the woman Barr wanted for his own. His jealousy and hatred intermingle with the syphilis attacking his body and he soon begins a downward spiral into violent madness. He sets in motion a vindictive plan to destroy not only James and Brigid, but their children as well.

Cissy Lockwood, the middle daughter and a lovely young woman, is caught between the English and the Irish. She’s half of each in blood, but a Catholic in a country where a minority of Protestants lord it over the native inhabitants. The local priest attempts to sway her to the rebels’ side, which only raises her ire. Change may be coming and she will soon have to decide where she stands, but she refuses to spy on family and friends.

Horrific accusations are made that threaten James’s career and his marriage. To avoid a terrible scandal, he is offered a position in India with the East India Company. Accepting the offer means permanent exile. To refuse means not only his arrest, but that of his wife as well. Cissy remains in Clonakilty to take care of their ailing housekeeper – a decision that puts her in grave danger because she’s the only one still accessible to Charles Barr.

The Lockwoods of Clonakilty is the second book in a series, but easily works as a stand-alone volume that transports you back to Ireland before the Great Famine. Bois’s three-dimensional characters sweep you into their lives, and he deftly guides them to a riveting climax filled with interesting twists. Like the seanachaís of his ancestors, Bois spins a tale that draws you into an inescapable web where unraveling the mystery and hate-filled vengeance of a madman becomes as vital as food and drink.




View all my reviews

Loch Garman: A Novel of Viking Age Ireland by James L. Nelson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Thorgrim Night Wolf has one desire – to return home to Norway – but again the gods demonstrate that the time has not yet arrived. Such is definitely the case in this seventh book in The Norsemen Saga, for he and his men have but three damaged longboats with no sails. Rather than fight and pillage to gain what they need, Thorgrim barters with the Irish. His decision is of no import to Starri Deathless, the berserker, “[b]cause every time you say such a thing, there ends up being more fighting than a man could wish for, so I’m not concerned.” (21)

Treasure attracts more than the heathens who plague Ireland. One among the many rí tuath wishes to gain the rumored Treasure of St. Aiden for himself, which is why Airtre mac Domhnall and a hundred men have gathered outside the gates of the monastery at Ferns. Failure to return home without it will just result in censure from his wife, and Airtre would much rather confront an army of Northmen than face her empty-handed. But Abbot Column denies that such a treasure exists, for he will protect the secret of Ferns any way he can. He succeeds in thwarting Airtre this time, but knows his success is temporary. Sooner or later Airtre will return and when he does, the lord who came to his aid this time won’t be present.

While some of the Northmen begin repairing the ships and setting up a temporary camp on the shores of Loch Garman, Thorgrim sends his son to retrieve the two longships he lent to the enslaved Irish whom Harald helped free. The plan is to row the two vessels back to their camp, but once Harald and his contingent locate them, they discover they aren’t the only ones to find the boats. Airtre isn’t quite certain what to do with the ships, but they are important to the heathens and, therefore, there must be some advantage to possessing them. A surprise attack allows Harald and his men to reclaim the longships until they discover that the Irish took all the oars and without those or sails, the boats are useless. When Airtre comes under a flag of truce and offers a compromise, Harald sees no workable options than to accept. In exchange for the oars, the Northmen will help Airtre “reclaim” the Treasure of St. Aidan and to insure that both sides keep their pledges, they exchange hostages. The Northmen return to Loch Garman with a promise to rendezvous with Airtre at a prearranged spot not far from Ferns.

While his son is away and his men are busy, Thorgrim and Failend head to Ferns to purchase new cloth for the sails. Although the Irish and Abbot Column, as well as Brother Bécc, are wary of this offer of silver for cloth, the abbot agrees to the exchange with an additional stipulation. Thorgrim must also assist Brother Bécc (a former soldier who is now a monk) with putting an end to Airtre’s repeated attempts to plunder the abbey. As much as he would prefer not to fight, Thorgrim will do what he must to obtain the sails. Only after he returns to camp does he learn that his son is a hostage to this Airtre; that they are to meet Brother Bécc at the same spot where they are to await Airtre; and that the Northmen have now promised to fight on both sides. Thorgrim also understands why Starri was unconcerned about his peaceful intentions and how fickle the gods can be.

Loch Garman is an excellent example of circumstances making strange bedfellows, for such are rife throughout this wonderful tale. While the majority of it takes place on land, there are a few river scenes. Subtle shifts begin to emerge in relations between the Irish and Northmen that will eventually lead to a more peaceful coexistence. Lest you think you can guess the ending from this review, I assure you that isn’t the case. Yes, there is plenty of action as Starri foretells, but this intricately woven tapestry is far more than just adventure. It also showcases how warriors think, gauge their opponents, understand potential trickery before it unfolds, and find ways to counteract overwhelming odds to prevail without losing sight of the original goal.

Nelson possesses the gift of a true storyteller; his words easily spin visual pictures in our minds without inserting passages that allow us to stray from unfolding events. For the first time, Louis the Frank is actually likable and Starri’s interactions with Thorgrim provide insightful glimpses into two men who are no longer as young as they once were. For much of the story, Harald is apart from the rest of the Northmen and these wanderings not only allow him to discover the truth of Ferns’ secret but also to demonstrate his inner reflections that show both the true depth of his character and how he has matured as a man and a fighter.

There are elements within this book – perhaps the best offering in the series so far – that readers will identify with no matter their ages. For me, these include sly touches of dry humor, the rationalizing of internal conflicts, and the wisdom and frailties that come with getting older. Regardless of what attracts you, you will not be disappointed. From the opening confrontation to the heart-stopping climax, Loch Garman is a riveting tale that brings to life a bygone era of Irish history.





View all my reviews

Blood for Blood by Mark M. McMillin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Blood for Blood. The words are Mary’s first thought upon waking and her last at night. They are her “ungodly prayer” for the wrongs committed against her and those she loves. They give her life purpose for continuing to live. For as long as she can remember the Dowlins have hounded her, and now the son and his henchmen seek to destroy her. They thought they had killed her and her lover when they torched an old mill, but Mary survives and gives birth to a daughter. Now, the time has come to renew her travels; she seeks out her old crew and reclaims her ships, Phantom and Diablo. Not to return to smuggling and the New World, but to England to serve the woman who long ago saved her life – Queen Elizabeth.

Her mission this time is to accompany Sir Francis Drake in his attempt to gain Portugal’s assistance in England’s war with Spain during the autumn of 1588. But their relationship is contentious at best, and Drake’s way of doing things often collides with Mary’s. Still, she heeds orders as long as her ships and her men are not needlessly endangered, even though this is slated to be a military campaign on land, rather than an assault from the sea.

In war plans rarely turn out as expected, and such is the case for this expedition. Then Mary is charged with aiding and abetting the enemy – a foolish charge that results in gaining freedom for a number of imprisoned Englishman, including one of the queen’s best spies – all because she defied Drake’s orders to implement her bold and daring plan.

Weathering this storm, she renews an old acquaintance with Captain Guilliaume Le Testu, the son of the corsair who lost his life during Drake’s raid on the mule train carrying Spanish silver. Le Testu puts forth an opportunity to return to the New World to plunder enemy ships and recover some of the silver buried so long ago. It is a tempting offer, especially since Drake’s most recent expedition is doomed to failure. She and her men decide to join Testu, but on her terms. Even though the long reach of Dowlin and the Siol Faolcháin can pursue her there, this time, they strike closer to home – attacks in Ireland that have a devastating effect on Mary and a young lad who joins her operation.

A fair portion of this historical novel takes place on land, rather than the sea, but McMillin skillfully recreates the time period with clever insertions of historical events interwoven with Mary’s fictional tale. The battle with Spanish forces in Panama is a nail-biting sequel to one of the most famous occurrence in Drake’s Caribbean escapades. Equally compelling are the poignant episodes where Mary once again suffers retribution. Events in her past, told in the previous title The Butcher’s Daughter, are neatly recounted and completed, so readers unfamiliar with that title will still find themselves grounded here. While the setting may be familiar to many, the time period makes this story more unique, for it unfolds long before the golden age of piracy begins. It spans the final decade of the sixteenth century and Mary is a product of her times, for “I was born in blood and I will die in blood, or so the story goes . . .”. (397)




View all my reviews

A Vengeful Wind by James L. Nelson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


When longships bearing more Northmen land on the beach on the other side of Loch Garman, Thorgrim Night Wolf knows the delicate truce with the Irish has become unbalanced. All he wishes is to finish repairs to his own longships, obtain the sails that the monastery is making, and set sail; instead, he and some of his men row across the water to offer hospitality. But the offer is rebuffed because Thorgrim slew the newcomers’ leader months past over control of Vík-ló. Thorgrim and his followers return to their makeshift longphort, hoping to depart before the Irish learn of the new Vikings. The gods have other plans.

Once a man-at arms and now a monk, Brother Bécc hates the invaders and wishes to eradicate them from all of Ireland. The arrival of more such vermin provides the lynchpin necessary for him to once again take up arms, first against the newcomers and then against Thorgrim Night Wolf. Bécc and the local rí túaithe lead their men on a carefully planned night attack when the Northmen are drunk and asleep. Just as a rout is achieved, out of the darkness upon the sea come hideous monsters – longships crowded with men with Night Wolf at their head. Bécc’s anger at failing to achieve God’s will is such that he murders a man and then uses Thorgrim’s intervention to attack the longphort.

In Angel-cynn (which the Norse call Engla-land) in the town of Sherborne, the people who matter gather in the cathedral to witness the marriage of the ealdorman to Cynewise, daughter of a neighboring ealdorman. Just after the couple exchange vows, a minor thegn kills the groom and calls for others to rise up with him. The assistance he seems to expect comes to naught and the murderer is slain. Nothwulf is stunned at the death of his brother, and is intent on finding out the reason for the murder. He also hopes to step into his brother’s shoes and become the new ealdorman, for surely a wife of two minutes who is as distraught as Cynewise has no desire to take over her husband’s duties. Yet Cynewise is not as meek or frail as she appears; behind Nothwulf’s back she plots, plans, and garners local support to gain King Aethelwulf’s support in naming her as ealdorman. The only one in her way is her brother-in-law, but with the help of the shire reeve who slew her husband’s murderer, Cynewise soon deals a crushing blow to Nothwulf . . . or so it seems until news of Norse ships landing give Nothwulf an unexpected advantage.

The opening of the eighth book in the Norsemen Saga is a bit slow as readers are introduced to a new storyline that involves a new land, new characters, and new words. Thorgrim’s tale continues in the second chapter, and thereafter, what happens in Ireland is intertwined with events in England. Only after a riveting battle between the Northmen and the Irish does it become clear as to why this new storyline has been introduced. Equally enthralling is the fearsome voyage on stormy seas that easily brings to mind the words of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, “In this year dire portents appeared . . . and sorely frightened the inhabitants. They consisted of immense whirlwinds and flashes of lightning, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air.”

There’s some discrepancy between the descriptive severity of Thorgrim’s wound and the quickness of his recovery, yet this is a minor aspect. What is compelling is his maturing character arc and some of the realizations he comes to as he enters his fifth decade. Harald Broadarm, Failend, Starri Deathless, and other familiar characters help make his life more interesting, as do the reappearance of several characters from earlier titles in the series. As always, Nelson includes maps, a longship diagram, and a glossary to aid readers in their journey with unfamiliar settings and vocabulary. He also selects quotations from contemporary writings to hint at what is to come in each chapter.

A Vengeful Wind is a well-crafted blend of historical fiction and intrigue that vividly recreates a time period centuries in the past. Nelson’s gift of storytelling transports readers to these strange lands to such a degree that the modern world is soon forgotten and we’re swept away just as the Northmen find themselves cast from the shores of Ireland.




View all my reviews

Captain James Lockwood by Mark Bois

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The new recruits to the Inniskilling Regiment aren’t yet soldiers in Captain James Lockwood’s estimation. Having served for twenty years in His Majesty’s army, he should know. And it is his duty to make certain each becomes the type of soldier who will do his duty and make the rest of the regiment proud. James himself might be English, but he’s served with the Irish regiment a long time and has been married to the lovely Brigid O’Brian Lockwood, herself an Irish Catholic, for twenty-three years.

Brigid came close to losing James five years ago, when he suffered a wound that nearly killed him at Waterloo. She feels he’s given enough for his country, but inevitably duty rears its ugly head and calls him back to service. After six years together, that day arrives with orders for the immediate departure of James and his men for Guyana, where rumors of a slave rebellion mean it will be years before she and James are reunited . . . if he survives. After all, such an assignment is akin to a death sentence. She’s all too aware of how many British soldiers have died because of the diseases that decimate troops assigned to the Caribbean. Still, she is an officer’s wife and a role model for the other regimental wives. Only a few women and children will be permitted to accompany their men overseas, and to show that she understands, she participates in the lottery to decide who goes and who must remain in Ireland.

Her willingness to show kindness and self-sacrifice endears her to the women, and when their hard-earned savings are stolen and they are turned out with nowhere to go, the women and children left behind seek out Brigid. She and her daughter, Cissy, devise a plan that takes advantage of a small hamlet of houses whose inhabitants were turned out for nonpayment of rent. Here the families will reside and work while they wait for their husbands to return. But this is Ireland, a land divided by loyalties and religion. The law and Protestant ministers would punish these indigent families, consigning them to workhouses, which Cissy equates to dens of misery. Some Catholics don’t want them around either. Their husbands are no better than traitors because they wear the red uniforms of English oppressors, and as far as the militant Catholics are concerned, that makes these men’s families traitors too. The White Boys, led by a priest no less, are just the ones to make certain these women and children, including the Lockwoods, pay the price for turning against their own kind.

In the meantime, James must deal with his own struggles. One of his men is a thief. The waters near Guyana are infested with pirates, including a particularly vicious man who adheres to the philosophy that the only good Englishman is a dead one. The colonial governor is accustomed to getting what he wants when he wants it. His fear of reprisals from the slaves, who seek only what the law has promised them, makes him lash out at James. When James refuses to bend to the governor’s will, he earns the lasting enmity of a man determined to destroy James any way he can. The abuse James witnesses and the slaves he meets also make him confront his own conscience.

This immersive third book in the Lockwood series is a tale of prejudice, betrayal, justice, and bigotry. Bois provides stark contrasts of slavery and oppression in ways that make readers react to the injustice meted out to the characters. At the same time, he deftly shows that not all people think and act the same, that there are good and bad people on both sides of the coin. Although soldiers normally fight on land, Lockwood and his men finds themselves waging war on water more than once. The first encounter demonstrates the wiliness necessary to thwart an enemy that is better armed and has larger numbers. The second is an edge-of-your-seat final showdown with a pirate who consummately portrays the viciousness inherent to those who preyed during the nineteenth century.




View all my reviews

Pirate Queen: The Legend of Grace O'Malley by Tony Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Strife is a byword during the time in which Grace O’Malley grows up. As a young girl, England ravages her homeland: ransacking churches, oppressing the people, and taking land from the Irish to give to Englishmen. But the O’Malleys are a proud clan and they are determined to fight for Ireland, which gains them enemies among the English.

Often away on sailing voyages, Grace’s father arranges for her to foster with a neighboring clan, the O’Flahertys. The idea doesn’t sit well with Grace, who would much rather follow in her father’s footsteps than do what is expected of girls. And she’s not about to live with Donal O’Flaherty, a young lad who always mocks her because she is a girl. Unbeknownst to her father, Grace stows away on his ship. Donal intercepts her, but rather than stop her, he gives her a gift in hopes that it will keep her safe. Another who turns a blind eye to her disobedience is Finn, her dad’s most trusted man.

One journey takes them to Scotland where an earl requests their assistance in getting five-year-old Mary Queen of Scots to safety. The English try to stop them – an encounter that brings Grace face-to-face with her future nemesis, a man named Bingham. He slays Finn, but Grace, her father, and the queen escape his clutches. Bingham’s wrath knows no bounds. As Grace matures and gains the moniker “Pirate Queen of Ireland,” he employs other Irishmen to assassinate her father and betray her. Bingham even tries to murder Grace with the help of someone within her own castle, but the murderer’s arrow strikes a man she rescued from a shipwreck. Grace is determined to unearth the traitor and exact revenge. Bingham is equally intent of stopping her no matter what it takes or who he must kill.

This graphic novel blends legend and fact to recount Grace’s life from her early years to her final days. It begins in 1546 and ends in 1603, the same year in which another famous queen dies. The story deftly portrays the “battle” between Grace and Bingham – a struggle that ultimately forces Grace to risk her own life to meet with Elizabeth I on that queen’s home turf. Also portrayed is the birth of Grace’s son while she is at sea and how she rallies her men during an attack. Here the pirates are English and in league with Bingham, but most historical accounts identify them as Barbary corsairs. The only time in the novel where the author asks readers to suspend belief is in her ability to control the weather.

Both author and illustrator do commendable jobs showing readers that Grace is a woman who looks at the big picture and knows her enemies well. Never once do they portray her as superhuman. Yes, she is successful, but her actions always have consequences, and sometimes those consequences endanger her loved ones. The artwork captures the action and the subdued colors fit the mood of the story. For readers who enjoy graphic novels or who want a quick recap of Grace’s life, Pirate Queen is a good introduction to this woman who dared to defy those who wished to stamp out a culture and whose story is remembered because the bards followed her example to keep her memory alive in spite of her enemies.




View all my reviews

The Alliance of Pirates: Ireland and Atlantic piracy in the early seventeenth century by Connie Kelleher

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A “Nursery and Storehouse of Pirates.” Sir Henry Mainwaring described Ireland as such in 1618. He certainly knew whereof he wrote, for having once been a pirate, he was intimately acquainted with the illicit goings-on there, especially in southwest Munster. Differentiating between privateering and piracy was difficult during this time, and the latter was intricately woven into the fabric of daily living in the region. What gave rise to Mainwaring’s comparison of Ireland to a breeding ground came about when King James I of England revoked all letters of marque and delved into government corruption within the admiralty. This drove many Englishmen to seek safer ports of call and where better than Munster and its remote coastline?

Using a chronological format and a multi-pronged approach, Kelleher shines a light on an oft-ignored period in piratical history and the overlooked aspect of a key component, the symbiotic relationship between land and sea. What differentiates piracy here is that rather than individuals preying on vulnerable ships, these pirates banded together to create an alliance that benefited all. Kelleher begins her examination looking at what came before and how this alliance formed. From there, she explores the alliance itself, government corruption, places the pirates frequented and what traces of their presence have been found, piracy as a business, the social world in which pirates lived (particularly on land), and the suppression of this marauding. The last chapter looks at not only the decline of piracy in Ireland, but also how it changed. That transformation includes both locally and globally, for the knowledge of English pirates, shared with the marauders of North Africa, allowed Barbary corsairs to expand their prowling field to include Iceland and Ireland. The most notable in the latter was the sacking of Baltimore in 1631.

The alliance formed into a cohesive unit by 1608, although many members had been marauding prior to that year. They chose Munster as their headquarters because they knew the region and people willing to help them or at least turn a blind eye to their activities. Among the clans that played significant roles were O’Sullivan Beara, O’Driscoll, and O’Mahoney. Most names mentioned aren’t familiar to readers, but key individuals discussed include Admiral Richard Bishop, Peter Easton, John Ward, Grace O’Malley, Henry Mainwaring, William Hull of Leamcon, and Thomas Crooke. Equally noteworthy are the bases that are discussed, for although the alliance was based in Munster, it also had ties to Newfoundland (Canada) and Mamora (Barbary Coast).

The result is a well-rounded and deftly presented look at a successful pirate alliance. Kelleher presents her research in a logical and easily understood fashion for lay readers and academics alike. To further enhance the experience, she includes a glossary, notes, bibliography, and index. Many pages contain full-color pictures or maps. The quality of the volume is reminiscent of a coffee table book, even though its dimensions are of normal size.

Anyone drawn to the book by its title goes away with a far better understanding of how, where, and why Ireland was a nursery for pirates. The Alliance of Pirates is an invaluable and welcome addition to piratical history.




View all my reviews

The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea during the Great Irish Famine by Cian T. McMahon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Emigration from Ireland began long before the nineteenth century and continued after its conclusion, but during the potato blight that caused the Great Famine, there was a mass exodus of people from the country. They sailed on vessels that became known as “coffin ships,” because one in three emigrants died during the journey. This label presents a history of only one dimension and fails to provide a true understanding of the emigration process that these Irish men, women, and children endured. McMahon employs this term for the book’s title to challenge the established concepts of this diaspora and open up new venues of discussion and research that enlighten and expand on our understanding. He does so by sharing what the emigrants thought of and experienced during their journeys using their letters and diaries, as well as newspapers, government documents, and guidebooks of the period.

To best comprehend the context of the Great Famine, McMahon sets the stage with a brief look at what Ireland was like before the blight. This was a time when the majority of landowners were Protestant who leased their lands to tenant farmers. Many were poor, but their lives were enriched by the social community in which they lived. The blight struck first in 1845 and the mass exodus of Irish because of the resultant famine ended a decade later. This is the timeframe that McMahon focuses on here. At the beginning, Ireland had a population of 8,500,000, one million of which would die during the Great Famine. Two million chose to escape the dire conditions, but there weren’t enough ships to carry; this led to delays, additional expenses, and problems that the emigrants had to confront. So how did they cope?

He divides his analysis of this question into five segments: Preparation, Embarkation, Life, Death, and Arrival. Chapter one focuses on how the Irish gathered the necessary resources to leave Ireland. This was but the first step as chapter two shows by examining how the emigrants traveled to their embarkation points. Both of these illustrate that an intricate network of relationships existed to help them to acquire the tickets and items they needed for the journey and get to the port – most often Liverpool, England – where they could board a ship that would take them to their new homelands.

Chapter three concerns the ocean voyage itself, while chapter four deals with death at sea. What life was like and how the emigrants adapted are key components here, as is how their shared experiences dissolved old bonds of the past to form new bonds to cope with life and death at sea. The final chapter discusses what happened once the ships docked at their destinations, the challenges the immigrants faced, and the revamping of relationships tying them to their new homes in addition to the one of their birth.

Part of the Glucksman Irish Diaspora Series, The Coffin Ship includes an essay that discusses the sources McMahon consulted and his methodology. Graphs and illustrations are interspersed throughout the narrative. Endnotes, a bibliography, and an index round out this study.

Most histories concern the emigrants who traveled to America, but McMahon includes those who sailed to other parts of the world – Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand – and includes the convict experience as well. Through the use of poetry and quotations from primary documents, he breathes life anew into these individuals so that readers experience their emotions, joys, and sufferings. He also shows how the migratory process worked and consisted of reciprocal means that extended far beyond the national boundaries of Ireland to reconnect Irish immigrants with those left behind. We often think that emigrating is a solitary experience, and to some degree it is, yet McMahon also shows how helping hands existed all along the way, allowing social bonds to dissolve, reform, and reconstitute themselves. Even though his study focuses on the Irish diaspora, he connects it to current issues concerning refugees. This is an invaluable addition for any collection dealing with the Great Famine, the Irish diaspora, and the refugee experience.




View all my reviews