At the last moment a little bird carried the tale to his ear.

He had been advertized out of the Pale that the lady was brought over only to entrap him, and if he came to the deputy he should never return.' He therefore excused himself by alleging that his duty to the Queen forbade him to leave the province while it was in such a disturbed condition, the disturbance being caused chiefly by his own predatory excursions into the territories of the O'Donels and Maguires.
Shane took charge of the affairs of the Church as well as of the State.

The Catholic primate refusing to acknowledge Elizabeth as the head of the Church, the see was declared vacant, and a _conge d'elire_ was sent down for the appointment of 'Mr.Adam Loftus,' an Englishman, who came over as the lord deputy's chaplain.

The answer returned and reported by Sussex to the Queen was 'that the chapter there, whereof the greater part were Shane O'Neill's horsemen, were so sparkled and out of order that they could by no means be assembled for the election.

In the meantime the lord deputy began to apprehend that O'Neill aspired, not without some hope of success, to the sovereignty of the whole island.