prisoner by Thomas, the tenth Earl of Ormond, with whom
he was at feud on a question of boundaries. By order of
the Queen, the Lord Deputy was appointed arbitrator in
this case, and though the decision was in favour of
Ormond, Desmond submitted, came to Dublin, and was
reconciled with his enemy in the chapter house of St.
Patrick's. A year or two later, Gerald turned his arms
against the ancient rivals of his house--the McCarthys
of Muskerry and Duhallow--but was again taken prisoner,
and after six months' detention, held to ransom by the
Lord of Muskerry. After his release, the old feud with
Ormond broke out anew--a most impolitic quarrel, as that
Earl was not only personally a favourite with the Queen,
but was also nearly connected with her in blood through
the Boleyns. In 1567, as before related, Desmond was
seized by surprise in his town of Kilmallock by Sidney's
order, and the following autumn conveyed to London on a
charge of treason and lodged in the Tower. This was the
third prison he had lodged in within three years, and by
far the most hopeless of the three. His brother, Sir John
of Desmond, through the representations of Ormond, was
the same year arrested and consigned to the same ominous
dungeon, from which suspected noblemen seldom emerged,
except when the hurdle waited for them at the gate.

This double capture aroused the indignation of all the
tribes of Desmond, and led to the formidable combination
which, in reference to the previous confederacy in the
reign of Henry, may be called "the second Geraldine
League." The Earl of Clancarty, and such of the O'Briens,