Aborted Invasion of 1578
In exile in Europe from 1575, Fitzmaurice tried to get backing for a new rebellion. He intrigued at the French and Spanish courts for a foreign invasion of Ireland. However, Philip II of Spain showed no interest in supporting him, as he was already overstretched fighting the Dutch Revolt in the Netherlands. Fitzmaurice had more success though, at the court of Pope Gregory XIII, where he met with exiled English Roman Catholic priests such as William Allen and Nicholas Sanders who were seeking to invade England, depose Elizabeth and restore a Catholic monarchy.
With the English adventurer Captain Thomas Stukley, Fitzmaurice planned an expedition which was to make Giacomo Boncompagni, the nephew of Pope Gregory, King of Ireland. This was supported by the English Catholics.
Stukley was provided by the Pope with infantry and sailed from Civitavecchia in Rome with 1000 men in March 1578, including pardoned highwaymen, musketeers and some professional officers, including Hercules of Pisano and Sebastiano di San Giuseppe of Bologna. In Cadiz in Spain he added some Irishmen and King Philip II sent him to Lisbon to secure better ships and meet with Fitzmaurice. Having no ships to offer, King Sebastian of Portugal, instead invited Stukley to join an invasion of Morocco, Stukley was killed there in August 1578 at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir, thus ending Fitzmaurice’s initial plans for invading Ireland.
Read more about this topic: Second Desmond Rebellion
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