Henry VIII. was proclaimed without opposition, and amid great rejoicings in all the principal towns, but his accession made no immediate difference to Ireland. Kildare prepared to go to the new King, but the Council, who felt their helplessness without him, chose him Lord Justice, and constrained him to stay. His patent as Lord Deputy was not long withheld, and other official men were for the time continued in authority. The Earl was summoned to Court, but excused himself on the grounds that he could not be spared, and, as the Council sustained him, the King made no objection. Attended by the chief men of the Pale he invaded Munster, and, being joined by O'Donnell, penetrated into Desmond and took Castlemaine, as well as the so-called palace of the MacCarthies near Killarney. He met with scarcely any resistance, and seems to have had no higher object than plunder. Near Limerick, Kildare was joined by Desmond's eldest son with the main force of the southern Geraldines and the MacCarthies of Carbery and Muskerry. The Lord Deputy passed into Clare by a wooden bridge which the O'Briens had erected near Castleconnell, and which he broke down behind him. Here he was met by Tirlough O'Brien, the chief's son, accompanied by the Macnamaras and the Clanricarde Burkes. The hostile armies bivouacked at such close quarters that they could hear each other talking at night. At daybreak Kildare retired along the right bank of the Shannon, and reached Limerick in safety with the bulk of his plunder. The Munster Geraldines, with their Irish auxiliaries, marched in the van as not being over trustworthy. In the rear, the post of honour in a retreat, were the O'Donnells and the men of the Pale. Such was the settlement of differences between Geraldines and De Burgos, which the chief governor had alleged as the main obstacle to his attendance upon his sovereign. It was indeed his interest to be always at war, for he had obtained a grant in tail of all such possessions as he could recover from any rebel in Ireland.[76] This method of paying a viceroy with letters of marque cost the Crown nothing, but the greatest ingenuity could hardly have devised a plan more fatal to an unfortunate dependency. [Sidenote: Activity of Kildare, 1512, 1513.]