Anne Chambers, author of the biography, Granuaile: Ireland's Pirate Queen, 1530-1603, welcomes fans of Grace O' Malley to her official website

The only biography of Grace O'Malley sourced from contemporary manuscript material Anne's book, a best-seller since its publication, is proof positive that fact is stranger and more remarkable than fiction.

'As a child I was inspired by the folktales and fiction that surrounded Grace O'Malley. But her factual story was strangely absent in history books. Was she fact or fiction? I simply could not tell. As an adult I set out on what became a 4 year voyage of discovery to find my answer. In archives and libraries, in private manuscript collections, in Ireland and England, locked away in the swirls and flourishes of 16th century calligraphy, I eventually discovered her.'

And what emerges is the story of a unique mould-breaker, a woman far more liberated and empowered than most in this age of perceived equality and woman-power.

Anne's best-selling biography (now in its ninth edition) has spread the factual story of one of the world's great warrior women across cultures and continents. The book has inspired composers, artists, poets, sculptors and documentary markers. The name GRANUAILE has become synonymous with Anne Chambers, becoming for her, in effect, something of an alter ego.

'Writing Granuaile's biography has been an eventful voyage of self-discovery. In effect, she inspired me to become a writer. Through her I have become involved in other creative disciplines on projects connected with her. From Connemara to Kingston, across the US, I have been invited to tell her story to countless people all as spellbound as myself by the story of this extraordinary woman.'

Once written out of history, Anne's book has restored Grace O'Malley to her rightful place as one of Ireland's great historical figures and her story is now part of Ireland's factual past.