History
 Ballynahinch Castle is steeped in a wealth
of tradition and has been intertwined in the history of Connemara
and its people for many centuries.
From the days of the O'Flaherty Chieftains, to Grace O'Malley,
the Pirate Queen of Connemara, to Humanity Dick Martin, founder
of the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals and to
H.R.H. the Maharajah Ranjitsinji, also known as the ‘Ranji’,
Prince of Cricketeers.
Grace O'Malley (also called Granuaile) was a famous pirate, seafarer,
trader and chieftain in Irleand in the 1500's. She was born in
1530 in County Mayo, Ireland and was the daughter of sea captain
Owen O'Malley. As a young child, Grace always knew she wanted
to be a sailor but as a female, she was discouraged repeatedly.
Extremely upset when her father refused to take her on a sailing
trip, legend has it Grace cut off all her hair and dressed in
boys clothes to prove to her parents that she could handle the
trip and live a seafarer's life. Seeing this, her father and
brother laughed aloud and nicknamed her "Grainne Mhaol"
meaning "Bald Grace" (which is believed to have led
to her nickname "Granuaile.") Eventually, through her
persistance, she was allowed to go to sea with her father and
his fleet of ships.
As a child, Grace often sailed with her father on trading missions
overseas. Once, upon returning from a trip to Spain, their ship
was attacked by an English vessel. Grace had been instructed
by her father to hide below deck if they ever were attacked,
but she did not heed his advise. Instead she climbed up onto
the sail rigging. Watching the battle from above, she noticed
an English pirate sneaking up on her father, raising a dagger
behind his back! The brave Granuaile leapt off of the rigging,
through the air and onto the pirate's back.... screaming all
the while! The distraction this caused was enough for the O'Malleys
to regain control of the ship and defeat the English pirates.In
her later years, Grace developed her reputation as a fearless
leader through her efforts in battle along side her followers.
Legend has it that Grace gave birth to one of her sons while
out to sea. The very next day following the birth of the baby,
the ship was attacked by Turkish pirates. Though exhausted from
giving birth Grace grabbed a gun, went on deck and proceded to
rally her men against the Turks, forcing their retreat.
Grace married two times in her life. Her first husband was Donal
O'Flaherty who was the son of the chieftain of the O'Flaherty
clan and next in line for the post as chieftain. Grace and Donal
married when was about 16 years old. In those times, it was common
for families to arrange marriages so the union between Grace
and Donal was probably more political than emotional at first.
Please go HERE to read more of this excellent story.
Humanity Dick Martin. Richard Martin was one of the outstanding
Irishmen of his time. Raised as an English Protestant, he later
became a Member of Parliament and aggressively argued for Catholic
Emancipation. He was also quite well known during his life as
a duelist and for his struggles concerning the rights of animals,
and because of this was given the nickname, by King George IV,
as "Humanity Dick".
Richard was born in 1754, the son of Robert Martin, a member
of an old tribal family of Connemara. His mother died when Richard
was only nine years old and his father soon remarried to Mary
Lynch, who later gave Richard two brothers. The families' combined
wealth allowed Richard to receive an excellent Protestant education.
He attended Harrow and Cambridge while studying law and afterwards
started a most extensive 'Gentleman's Tour' to round out his
knowledge.
With his cousin, James Jordan, Richard traveled all over Europe.
They eventually left Bordeaux bound for Jamaica, and later ended
up in New England for the start of the American War of Independence.
The two young men promptly returned home, and by the end of the
1770's, Richard's education and his families' influence combined
to make him a Member of Parliament, a Colonel in the Galway Volunteers,
and gained him a wife by the name of Elizabeth Vesey.
Richard's duties kept him away from home quite a bit, but the
couple had several children, one of whom is rumored to be the
child of a liaison between Elizabeth and the tutor hired to educate
Richard's sons, Theobald Wolfe Tone.
It was during this period that Richard began to acquire a reputation
and nickname relating to his many duels, as "Trigger Dick",
a nickname which was also held by his uncle. In 1783, he dueled
with "Fighting" Fitzgerald, a Mayo Landlord, over the
man's shooting of a friend's dog. He also apparently made friends
with the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, as the two men
shared many ideals and both were seen in Parliament quite often.
Richard's wife Elizabeth continued to show her knack for indiscretion,
and the two divorced in 1794 after a scandal over her affair
with a Mr. Petrie of Paris. Dick remarried in 1797, and had several
more children.
By the early 1800's, Richard's estate was quite large and the
biggest in Ireland, encompassing over 200,000 acres. His wealth
and friendship with the Prince continued to increase his influence
in Parliament and elsewhere. Dick was persuaded to vote for the
Act of Union in 1800, something he soon bitterly regretted, and
was responsible for excising the death penalty for forgery. In
1809, Lord Erskine of Scotland presented a bill in Parliament
to prevent cruelty to such animals as horses, pigs, oxen, and
sheep. The bill failed however, and later in 1822, Richard was
responsible for the passing of the Martin Act, which applied
to large domestic animals. It is at this time that Dick acquired
the nickname of "Humanity", his friend the Prince of
Wales, was now King George IV and gave Dick the nickname. Two
years later, Richard created the first animal welfare society
- the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, with
other like-minded people.
Richard remained a Member of Parliament until his election to
Westminster in 1826 was invalidated. The scandal and his ensuing
debt forced Richard to flee to Bolounge in France. He died peacefully
on the January 6th, 1834. The great family estate, which he helped
to create, was lost during the Great Potato famine within 20
years.
Richard Martin's life is largely marked by his efforts to attain
human and animal rights. He supported Catholic Emancipation,
and is generally considered the founder of the SPCA. It is rather
ironic, that his families' great wealth, some of which came out
of human injustice, was later lost during the Great Famine. |
