MacLeod of Ara, obeyed his commands. He first descended
on the plains of Annally-O'Farrell (the present county
of Longford), driving the English settlers before him:
he next visited the undertaker's tenants in Connaught,
ejecting them from Boyle and Ballymoate, and pursuing
them to the gates of Tuam. On his return, the important
town and castle of Sligo, the property of O'Conor, then
in England, submitted to him. Sir Richard Bingham
endeavoured to recover it, but was beaten off with loss.
O'Donnell, finding it cheaper to demolish than defend
it, broke down the castle and returned in triumph across
the Erne.

General Norris, having arranged his plan of campaign at
Newry, attempted to victual Armagh, besieged by O'Neil,
but was repulsed by that leader after a severe struggle.
He, however, succeeded in throwing supplies into Monaghan,
where a strong garrison was quartered, and to which O'Neil
and O'Donnell proceeded to lay siege. While lying before
Monaghan they received overtures of peace from the Lord
Deputy, who continually disagreed with Sir John Norris
as to the conduct of the war, and lost no opportunity of
thwarting his plans. He did not now blush to address, as
Earl of Tyrone, the man he had lately proclaimed a traitor
at Dublin, by the title of the son of a blacksmith. The
Irish leaders at the outset refused to meet the
Commissioners--Chief Justice Gardiner and Sir Henry
Wallop, Treasurer-at-War--in Dundalk, so the latter were
compelled to wait on them in the camp before Monaghan.
The terms demanded by O'Neil and O'Donnell, including