| In 1534, Garret Oge, Earl of Kildare and Chief | | | | his Maynooth stronghold but in March 1535 this |
| Governor was summoned to England by Henry | | | | was taken by the king's representative Sir William |
| VIII. He entrusted the administration of the | | | | Skeffington. Skeffington granted the survivors |
| country to his eldest son, Thomas, Lord Offaly. | | | | 'the pardon of Maynooth', which is to say that he |
| On 11 June 1534, Offaly galloped into Dublin with a | | | | executed them. This action was without |
| band of armed men each sporting a silken fringe | | | | precedent in Irish wars but it was a foretaste of |
| on his jacket giving Lord Offaly the moniker of | | | | what was to come. Silken Thomas had wrongly |
| 'Silken Thomas'. He strode into the council | | | | expected his insurrection to attract widespread |
| chamber of St. Mary's Abbey and declared that | | | | support especially from Catholics opposed to King |
| he was no longer the king's deputy but his enemy. | | | | Henry VIII's Reformation. In July 1535, Lord |
| Some accounts of this saga attribute Thomas' | | | | Leonard Grey was appointed as Lord Lieutenant |
| actions to youthful impetuosity on hearing that his | | | | of Ireland, Silken realising that further resistance |
| father had been imprisoned in the Tower of | | | | was futile surrendered requesting pardon for his |
| London but others state that his father had | | | | offences. In October he was sent as a prisoner |
| orchestrated the whole event to indicate to | | | | to the Tower of London, despite Grey's |
| Henry VIII that he could not rule Ireland without | | | | guarantee he was hanged, drawn and quartered |
| the complicity of the Earls of Kildare. Silken | | | | with his five uncles in February 1537. This |
| Thomas demanded a royal pardon for the | | | | completed the downfall of the House of Kildare, |
| rebellion and permission to hold the chief | | | | from then on the viceroy was to be an |
| governorship for life. In July he attacked Dublin | | | | Englishman and until 1922 there would always be |
| Castle but failed to take it and his troops were | | | | an English army in Dublin. |
| routed. He ordered the execution of Archbishop | | | | |
| Alen at Clontarf, thus losing the support of the | | | | Russell Shortt is a travel consultant with Exploring |
| clergy. His father died in London, technically making | | | | Ireland, the leading specialists in customised, |
| Thomas the tenth Earl of Kildare, although the | | | | private escorted tours, escorted coach tours and |
| Crown never recognised his title. He retreated to | | | | independent self drive tours of Ireland. |