Sailor Mulloy re-enacts Mayo-to-London voyage

Grace O’Malley Whiskey puts wind in her sails

Skipper Joan Mulloy salls up the river Thames in London Picture: Rick Tomlinson

Sailor Joan Mulloy has re-enacted Irish pirate Grace O’Malley’s historic 400-year-old trip up the Thames.

In the late 1500s, after English governor of Connaught Sir Richard Bingham arrested O’Malley’s two sons, O’Malley sailed to England to meet to Queen Elizabeth I to discuss their release.

O’Malley brought her ships up the River Thames in London, where she came face to face with Queen Elizabeth at Greenwich. Following a successful negotiation, the self-pronounced Queen ...