Anne Bonny's Treasure Chest Multi-Cache

Anne Bonny was born around the year 1700. Her birth name was Anna Cormac, and her birthplace was Kinsale, County Cork. She was the daughter of a servant woman, Mary Brennan, and Brennan's employer, lawyer William Cormac.

Bonny's family travelled to the New World very early on in her life; at first the family had a rough start in their new home. Her mother died shortly after they arrived in North America when she was 12. Her father attempted to establish himself as an attorney, but did not do well. Eventually, Bonny's father joined the more profitable merchant business and accumulated a substantial fortune. It is recorded she had red hair and was considered a "good catch", but may have had a fiery temper; at aged 13 she supposedly stabbed a servant girl with a table knife. She married a poor sailor and small-time pirate named James Bonny. James Bonny hoped to win possession of his father-in-law's estate, but Anne was disowned by her father. There is a story that Bonny set fire to her father's plantation in retaliation...

However, it is known that sometime between 1714 and 1718, she and James Bonny moved to Nassau, on New Providence Island; known at that time as a sanctuary for English pirates called the 'Pirates' republic'.

While in the Bahamas, Bonny began mingling with pirates in the local taverns. She met Jack "Calico Jack" Rackham, captain of the pirate sloop Revenge, and Rackham became her lover. They had a child in Cuba, who eventually took the name of Cunningham. Many different theories state that he was left with his family or simply abandoned. Bonny rejoined Rackham and continued the pirate life, having divorced her husband and marrying Rackham while at sea. Bonny and Rackham escaped to live together as pirates. Bonny, Rackham, and Mary Read stole the ship Revenge, then at anchor in Nassau harbour, and put out to sea. Rackham and the two women recruited a new crew. Rackham's crew spent a lot of time in Jamaica and the surrounding area. Over the next several months, they enjoyed success, capturing many, albeit smaller, vessels and bringing in an abundance of treasure. Bonny did not disguise herself as a man aboard the Revenge as is often claimed. She took part in combat alongside the men, and the accounts of her exploits present her as competent, effective in combat, and respected by her shipmates. Her name and gender were known to all from the start. Governor Rogers had named them in a "Wanted Pirates" circular published in the continent's only newspaper, The Boston News-Letter. Although Bonny was historically renowned as a female Caribbean pirate, she never commanded a ship of her own.

In October 1720, Rackham and his crew were attacked by a "King's ship", a sloop captained by Jonathan Barnet under a commission from the Governor of Jamaica. Most of Rackham's pirates did not put up much resistance as many of them were too drunk to fight; other sources indicate it was at night and most of them were asleep; however, Read and Bonny fought fiercely and managed to hold off Barnet's troops for a short time. Rackham and his crew were taken to Jamaica, where they were convicted and sentenced by the Governor of Jamaica to be hanged. According to Johnson, Bonny's last words to the imprisoned Rackham were: "sorry to see you there, but if you'd fought like a man, you would not have been hang'd like a Dog".

After being sentenced, Read and Bonny both "pleaded their bellies": asking for mercy because they were pregnant.

In accordance with English common law, both women received a temporary stay of execution until they gave birth. Read died in prison, most likely from a fever, though it has been alleged that she died during childbirth.

There is no historical record of Bonny's release or of her execution. This has fed speculation that her father ransomed her; that she might have returned to her husband, or even that she resumed a life of piracy under a new identity.

In order to find this cache you will need to go for a short walk to find three local locations to generate a 3 digit number (represented by ABC) before you will be able to log this cache as a find.

Stage 1 - Spanish Galleon Mast Replica
N 51° 42.215 W 008° 31.193

here you will find an information board explaining the significance of this distinct Kinsale landmark. Spend some time reading some of the history of this picturesque town. A certain battle is being remembered here - A is the second digit of the year in which this battle took place.

Stage 2 - Memorial to the McCarthy Brothers, Kinsale, Co Cork
N 51° 42.251 W 008° 31.260

Here you will find a memorial to two Kinsale brothers who were pioneers of arctic exploration. Take some time to read the plaques and find out what they did to earn this monument. B is the most popular digit in their years of birth.

Stage 3 - Temperance Hall
N 51° 42.331 W 008° 31.361

Pirates are well known for their love of the grog .. however some sailors and residents of Kinsale wanted nothing to do with the "devil's drink". Here you will find the temperance hall, a building dedicated to helping folk stay off the drink. C is the last digit on the plaque near its roof, stating the date it was built.

The cache
N 51° 42.317 W 008° 31.345

Once you have all 3 digits, put them together to get the three digits represented by ABC. I will say no more, but it'll be quite obvious why you need these numbers and what to do with them. You'll need to go to the coordinates of this cache as listed above.

Once inside, the cache will be in plain sight.. somewhere. but be warned, it's not your average tupperware / ammo can cache container. This one's rather special. If you get stuck, don't worry about asking for help - the staff most definitely know about this one and are quite excited about having a cache there - but knowing the theme of this cache, I don't think you'll have much problem in identifying it!

Availability

It is important to know that this cache is not available 24 hours a day. On days when location at the cache is open, it will be available between 9:15am and 5pm. The cache is also seasonal - it is only available on certain days at different times of the year. Here is a table of the opening times for 2016 to give you an idea - but the days and dates may now differ.

Please do not ask if you can log this cache as a find if you have merely seen the cache but were unable to sign the log because of the above times. "Finding the treasure" is an essential part of finding this cache.