Pirate Queen Gráinne Mhaol inspired Triona’s now treasured RTE radio series
IRISH writer Triona Campbell struck gold when she came up with the idea of creating a children’s radio drama about Gráinne Mhaol. The Adventures of a Young Pirate Queen has returned for the third season on RTÉjr Radio and wherever you get your podcasts from.
The series is based on the imagined childhood of the legendary pirate queen Gráinne Mhaol, a woman who has fascinated Triona ever since she was a child herself.
‘I work in children’s content production and we were in and around a lot of primary schools,’ Triona says. ‘ And as we were talking to those kids I realised they could tell me everything about Greek and Roman myths because they were reading the likes of Percy Jackson but a lot of them had never heard of Grace O’ Malley or Gráinne Mhaol. ‘She is such an iconic figure and I always remember the stories my mum told me when we were growing up about her. And yet there is an entire generation growing up who are mainly reading American authors and they know nothing about these stories.’
Triona is an author of Young Adult fiction and also created the show Gamer Mode for television. But lockdown gave her the opportunity to act on her Gráinne idea.
‘We had a lot of broadcasting equipment in the house and I realised we could probably hook up with actors online and record a radio drama. We recorded the first season and we had no budget so we got a lot of actors who are friends to come in and help us out.’
The series was snapped up by RTE and is now in its third award-winning run, with a video game with a book and a film in the pipeline for Triona’s iconic heroine.
‘In the middle ages in Europe women were really seen and not heard at all. And you have this woman who is a Chieftain’s daughter who has probably been raised to have a life of privilege but something happens along the way where she decided to change all of that and become this warrior in her own right’ says Triona. ‘I wanted to explore what it might have been in her childhood growing up that had led her to lead this life of adventure later on. I wanted to combine Celtic history and this fantasy adventure story for kids that could sweep them along.’
The Adventures of a Young Pirate Queen is ideal for little listeners, whether you are travelling or just even too tired to read a bedtime story as the drama does it for you. And with a film and book in the pipeline, it looks like these high seas adventures will continue.
This season the cast includes newcomers Millie O’Reilly playing Gráinne, and Kiri Flaherty (soon to be seen in the Apple TV series ‘Dick Turpin’) voicing Meabh. You can find the series, eherever you get your podcasts.