 In May 1548 he was sent to that country as Lord Deputy.Ireland was then in a very disturbed condition, but the new governor crushed a rebellion of the O'Connors in Leinster, freed the Pale from rebels, built forts, and made the English power respected in Munster and Connaught.Bellingham, however, was a headstrong man and was constantly quarreling with his council; but one of his opponents admitted that he was the best man of war that ever he had seen in Ireland.