Papal invasion force. In the following spring, when Grey passed through Wicklow, O'Byrne showed his forces on the hills and sent sorties to cut off the straggling plate wagons. He insisted that the terms offered to him include a pardon for Desmond and a guarantee of freedom of conscience. But the glens now became so frequented with crown troops that he was forced to accept the original terms and, once hostages had been given to the government, he received his pardon. Quiet times For some years after, O'Byrne remained docile and, following the death of the Earl of Desmond in 1583, had even received into his territory his old foe, Nicholas White, upon the first visit to that place by a senior crown judge. He gave his uncle and sons as hostages to the new governor, Sir John Perrot, who hanged a piper sent in by O'Byrne after a cattle raid which had been carried out to the piper's tune. Some of the hostages escaped, but O'Byrne soon appeared before Perrot in English dress and supplied more hostages. In March 1587 the Irish wife of the English captain, Sir Thomas Lee, let it be known that her husband was plotting to capture O'Byrne, and Lee decided to separate from her. In 1589 twenty-two O'Byrne hostages escaped custody – including two of Fiach's sons and his brother-in-law – eleven were recaptured. O'Byrne's docility remained in doubt, and he was soon found attacking Arklow Castle in revenge for a private wrong. Cat and mouse In 1592 O'Byrne involved himself in another escape from Dublin Castle. Hugh Roe O'Donnell had escaped the castle in the previous year, only to be betrayed while on the run. His second attempt was a success, and although he suffered frostbite O'Donnell was guided to Glenmalure, whence O'Byrne despatched him home to the province of Ulster. The grave of Art O'Neill (son of Shane O'Neill), a fellow prisoner who died during the escape, lies southwest of Granabeg towards Glenmalure, in the townland of Oakwood. O'Byrne fell quiet again, but Lee insisted throughout the period 1594–96 that he was a traitor to the crown, and a new initiative against him was directed by the lord deputy, Sir William Russell. After the Christmas festivities of 1594, Russell drove O'Byrne from Ballinacor in a three-day offensive and garrisoned his house. On their approach to the ramparts of Ballinacor a drum had