and then wrapped the head in cloth; an attempt was made to conceal his body under a tree, but it was discovered by a hunter and brought to the town of Kilmallock. For weeks, the body was nailed to the gallows, until it was shattered by musket fire and collapsed. Legacy The invasion force at Smerwick was besieged and massacred after surrender in 1580 by the English. The tide turned in favour of the English, and the Second Desmond Rebellion ended in 1583, when the Earl of Desmond and his followers had been hunted down and killed by the English and the Irish clans who had once willingly risen and fought beneath the banners of the Earl. The destruction of the Desmond Earldom ended with the Desmond lands being both devastated and parcelled out to English undertakers in the Plantation of Munster, which was a major step in the Tudor conquest of Ireland. Since the beheading of Silken Thomas in 1537, fitz Maurice was the first Irish clan chief to use the ongoing religious persecution of English and Irish Catholics as a grounds for war against the House of Tudor. Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell may have been inspired by fitz Maurice for their uprising, which became known as the Nine Years War. Fitz Maurice is now regarded as the man the Geraldines ought to have chosen to lead them if they were to resist the English Reformation. Notes and references Notes Citations Sources – 1558 to 1578 – 1579 to 1603 – Dacre to Dysart – Irish Biography (for fitz Maurice) – (for timeline) – 1534–1691 1579 deaths James Irish soldiers People of Elizabethan Ireland People of the Second Desmond Rebellion Year of birth unknown