political crisis; Wyndham repudiated the scheme in a letter to The Times, but by March 1905, due to repeated Unionist attacks, his position as Chief Secretary had become untenable and he was forced to resign from Cabinet. He was replaced by Walter Long, a strong unionist. MacDonnell was formally censured by the Cabinet for exceeding his powers, but remained in office. Although unable to defend himself in parliament, many aristocratic associates from his service in India remained favorably disposed towards him and defended his position. He was also helped by the fact, known among prominent government figures, that he enjoyed the strong support of King Edward VII, to whom he was quite close. On the fall of the Balfour government in 1905, James Bryce replaced Long as Chief Secretary for Ireland in the new Liberal administration. Bryce relied heavily on MacDonnell, as did his successor, Augustine Birrell, who was appointed in 1907, and together they drafted a new devolution scheme, the Irish Council Bill, which sought to initiate a committee of Irish M.P.'s to deal with legislation relating purely to Ireland. The initiative was unsuccessful, failing to secure the support of a majority of Irish Nationalist MPs. MacDonnell's latter years in office were less eventful. One of the most colourful incidents of his later career was the crisis surrounding the theft of the regalia of the Order of St. Patrick, known popularly as the "Irish Crown Jewels", from the Office of Arms in Dublin Castle shortly before a royal visit to Ireland in 1907. His relationship with Birrell was never comfortable, and, frustrated by the lack of progress towards a workable scheme of devolution for Ireland, he resigned his post in July 1908, at the age of 64. He was a delegate for the Southern Unionists during the 1917–18 Irish Convention. MacDonnell was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1903, and on his retirement from office in 1908 he was elevated to the peerage as Baron MacDonnell, of Swinford in the County of Mayo (a town close to his birthplace). Retirement MacDonnell retired to London and withdrew in large part from public life. His contributions to the House of Lords tended to focus on Irish and Indian matters. He served as Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service between 1912 and 1914, and as a member of the Irish Convention of 1917–18. He