After two months the attackers returned to the castle with Lord Clanmalier in command. He despatched another letter demanding surrender to the brave lady, which received a spirited reply, reiterating her determination to endeavour to hold her own against all comers. Upon its receipt they discharged the gun, which burst at the first shot, but a fusilade of muskets was kept up until the evening. As the Baroness was looking out of one of the windows a ball struck the wall near her, and taking out her handkerchief, she contemptuously dusted the spot. It is said that one of her sons, having fallen into the enemy’s hands, was brought before the castle in chains, with a threat that they would kill him unless she surrendered. She, however, replied that if they touched a hair of his head she would at once put to death a Roman Catholic priest who was within the walls. At dark the enemy retired, again sending her a letter offering her terms, which received the same refusal as the others had done, and the messenger she sent was kept a prisoner. Lady Offaly managed to let Sir Charles Coote, then at Naas, know that she needed assistance, and Philip Sydney, Viscount Lisle, at once set out from Dublin to her relief, accompanied by Sir Charles Coote, Sir George Wentworth, Lord Digby, the Baroness’s eldest son, and a considerable force of horse and foot. Lady Offaly had also despatched an appeal for help to the FitzGeralds, but the letter fell into the enemy’s hands instead, who at once renewed the siege when they learnt of her straits. As the English forces advanced the besiegers skirmished and retreated. The relieving party supplied the fortress with food and ammunition, but at Lady Offaly’s request she remained in the castle. The following October she was again attacked by Charles Dempsie, but this time was shortly relieved by Sir Richard Grenville, and after this she retired to Cole’s Hill, in Warwickshire, where she died in 1658. Her eldest son, Lord Digby, inherited the castle, and it is still in the family’s possession. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.” J. Wright, “King’s County Directory.” State Documents. Carew MSS., including Book of Howth. Parliamentary Gazetteer. Hore, “Rental Book of Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare,” and “Notes on a Fac-Simile of an Ancient Map of Leix,” both in _Journal of Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland_. [Illustration: GLENARM CASTLE.] _GLENARM CASTLE_ This castle is situated in the Barony of Lower Glenarm, a little more than twenty-five miles north of Belfast, in the County Antrim, where the Glenarm rivulet enters the bay. The original stronghold was erected by the Byset family about the middle of the thirteenth century, and came into the MacDonnell family through the marriage of Margery Bisset.