Grace O'Malley was chieftain of the O Maille clan in the west of Ireland, following in the footsteps of her father Eoghan Dubhdara O Maille. She was a product of the Gaelic world of her time and, despite her interaction with English officials, may have known no English. She was apparently well-educated and was regarded by contemporaries as being exceptionally formidable and competent. Upon her father's death she inherited his large shipping and trading business (a trade sometimes referred to as mere piracy). She formally presented her request to Elizabeth I at her court in Greenwich Palace."