In his influential Ways of Worldmaking, Nelson Goodman suggests, “Works of fiction in literature and their counterparts in other arts obviously play a prominent role in worldmaking; our worlds are no more a heritage from scientists, biographers, and historians than from novelists, playwrights, and painters.” We might also say that when history and the arts come together, the capacity for world-shaping is doubled. Such is the case with Gráinne Ní Mháille, popularly known as Grace O’Malley or the Sea Queen of Connaught, the acknowledged ruler of a significant portion of the west coast of Ireland during the latter half of the sixteenth century. She regularly conducted raids by land and sea, and by her middle years had become mistress of several castles, ships, and a ready force of armed soldiers. Her place in the historical record is confirmed by both English and Gaelic genealogies, as well as many documents of the Tudor colonial administration. In a parallel manner, her status in early modern legend is preserved in ballads and poems.