 He remained incarcerated for eight years in great want with no rents reaching him from his estate.James meanwhile brought a writ of quo warranto against him for the county palatine of Tipperary, which had been vested in the head of the family for nearly four hundred years, and which could not therefore under any circumstances have belonged to his cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Preston.No answer was made to the writ, if indeed an opportunity was afforded for answer, and James took the county palatine into his own hands.