Like nearly all the senior Irish judges in that era he was a client of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, who was almost all-powerful in Ireland for more than 30 years. Kildare and his faction made the mistake of supporting Lambert Simnel, a pretender to the English Crown, who was decisively defeated at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. The victorious King Henry VII was merciful to the Irish rebels (as indeed he was to Simnel himself, who became a servant in the Royal household).