 He is said to have sat in the parliament of 1556, and in March 1567 he was knighted by Sir Henry Sidney.His conduct during the rebellion of James FitzMaurice FitzGerald (1569–73) was suspicious, but he appears to have regained the confidence of the government, being commended by Sidney on the occasion of his visit to Munster in 1576.Like most of the would-be independent chiefs in that province, he complained bitterly of the aggressions of Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond.