In the late 1500s, young Patrick O'Flaherty comes to the remote walls of Grainne O'Malley's pirate fortress on the west coast of Ireland, determined to enlist the aid of his heroine queen in freeing his family, prisoners of the British. "Patch" stays to become a page in Grainne's bewildering "court" and accompanies her and her men as they plunder the ships of Elizabeth I and wage bloody raids on the countryside. To Grainne, Patch represents the future of her beloved Ireland and the tragedy of all Irishmen, torn between loyalty to her cause and the fear that her resistance to the British will cost many Irish lives. Should she submit to the English Crown as the other lords, including her own husband, were doing? No matter her choice, Patch is by her side. A true story, vividly told as only Madeleine Polland can do