PHILIP SIDNEY’S FATHER MEETS GRACE O’MALLEY. Sir Philip Sidney (the poet) and his father, Sir Henry Sidney, who was the Lord Deputy of Ireland, had a meeting with Grace O”Malley. Anne Chambers quotes Sir Henry:
“There came to me also a most famous feminine sea captain called Granny Imallye and offered her services unto me, wheresoever I would command her, with three galleys and two hundred fighting men, either in Scotland or in Ireland…..This was a notorious woman in all the coasts of Ireland.”
I take this as evidence that Grace O’Malley was already a legend.