Grace O'Malley: The Pirate Queen

While Grace was busy trying to replenish and maintain her husband's estate, Donal O'Flaherty was still up to his old ways. His spending habits had not improved and his aggressive temperament became worse. The McWilliamship had already been lost to another member of the O'Flaherty family who had defeated the British in a recent battle. The loss of the McWilliamship title and his wife's success on the sea upset the truculent Donal.

Donal stayed true to his warring ways and made a failed attempt to violently take land from the Joyce clan. Angered by such an act, the Joyce clan sought revenge against Donal and launched an attack against him at Cork's Castle.

The heavily fortified castle, which was located on an island in the middle of a lake, had once belonged to the Joyce clan. Donal and his men successfully defended the castle, despite repeated assaults by the Joyce clan. Because of his courage during the ferocious battle, the Joyce clan nicknamed Donal "The Cock." But the Joyce clan still wanted their revenge. Legends tell that, sometime later, Donal O'Flaherty was mysteriously killed while on a hunting trip. 

Upon learning of her husband's death, possibly at the hands of a rival clan, Grace O'Malley and her men prepared for another attack by her husband's killers. The Joyces attacked again, only to encounter another savage and defiant defense of the Cork's castle. But they were repelled a final time by the stalwart widow of Donal O'Flaherty. Grace got her revenge for her husband's murder. Her indomitable courage and leadership in the battle earned Grace the nickname "The Hen." Cork's Castle has since been known as "Hen's Castle."