Famine Musuem and Grainnuaile Visitor Centre

Located in the seaside village of Louisburgh, the Famine Museum and Grannuaile Visitor Centre provides an array of interpretive material on the great famine and its tremendous impacts on the local communities. The museum also recounts the life of Ireland?s infamous 16th century Pirate Queen, Grace O?Malley, vividly recounting several of the legends surrounding the pirate queen. One alleged story has Grace making a journey up the Thames for an audience with Queen Elizabeth I in order to release her son. The Queen was suitably impressed by her Irish counterpart, acceded and ordered her man in Ireland to ?protect them to live in peace and to enjoy their livelihoods?. Grace O'Malley is reputed burial place is in the Cistercian Abbey on nearby Clare Island.