Irish Pirate Grace O'Malley - Granuaile Padraig Pearse Presentation by Karen Vuranch Irish American Club East Side 22770 Lakeshore Blvd, Euclid March 30, 2025
Storyteller, actress, and writer Karen Vuranch weaves together a love of history, a passion for stories and a sense of community. She is known for her traditional storytelling, plays based on oral history, and living history presentations of famous American women. She brings history to life through her unique performance style, which combines storytelling and drama to create an engaging presentation.
Karen's career began as a traditional storyteller, telling Appalachian and multi-cultural stories to audiences of many ages. While she continues to tell traditional stories, her work has branched out in other directions.
She is known nationally for her work and has toured extensively through West Virginia and the United States. She regularly performs living history characters in Chautauquas, which are summer performances presented by state Humanities Councils featuring scholar/actors portraying historical characters. She has participated troupes from across the country. Her repertoire of famous American women includes novelist Pearl S. Buck, labor activist Mother Jones, humanitarian Clara Barton, Indian captive Mary Draper Ingles, Civil War soldier and spy Emma Edmunds, Irish pirate Grace O'Malley, Wild West outlaw Belle Starr, the First Lady of Food, chef Julia Child, Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parson, beloved children's author Laura Ingalls Wilder, writer and humanitarian Edith Wharton and Mama Cass Elliot. Her newest character in the works is Mae West.
The Padraic Pearse Center Speaker Series of the Irish American Club East Side held a Stories and Signatures event on Sunday March 30, 2025 that featured Karen as Grace O'Malley. Padraig Pearse Center President Bree Gurry welcomed the crowd.
Bree Gurry
A packed house watched Karen emerge as Grace O'Malley and tell her tale.
Karen Vuranch as Grace O'Malley
Grace O'Malley, known as Granuaile in Irish Folklore, was a 16th century Irish historical figure often referred to as "The Pirate Queen". It is said that as a young girl, she wanted to go on a trading expedition to Spain with her father. When told she could not because she was a girl and her long hair would catch in the ship's ropes, she cut off most of her hair and wore boy's clothes. This earned her the nickname "Gráinne Mhaol" which means 'bald' or 'having cropped hair', which became Granuaile. This feisty attitude continued through her life and she stood up for her family and clan as well as, if not better, than any man of the time.
Karen Vuranch as Grace O'Malley
One of her most famous accomplishments is her face-to-face meeting with Queen Elizabeth I. In a time when most women had little power, this meeting was monumental and indicative of the mutual respect the women had for each other.
Grace O'Malley meets Queen Elizabeth I (Public domain illustration from Anthologia Hibernica, vol. 11, 1793)
She has a great story and Karen Vuranch told it well as she became Grace O'Malley. Watch a video clip of the beginning of the Grace O'Malley presentation as Grace explains how she got her famous nickname, Granuaile.
Karen is a member of the Cleveland Speakers Bureau so if you want to see Grace O'Malley or any of her other fascinating characters, check her out there.
Here is a short video interview with Karen explaining some of her roles.
Karen Vuranch as Grace O'Malley
Map from Grace O'Malley's era
Padraig Pearse Center leaders with Karen/Grace
Some of the IACES attendees
Karen Vuranch as Grace O'Malley
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