Connacht in the 1570s was divided between English control and Irish clans and families. The two branches of the Burke family, the MacWillams of Mayo and the Clanricardes of Galway, held a lot of territory and influence. The two branches fought with each other and with neighbouring clans, leading to the Elizabethian Lord Deputy of Ireland Henry Sidney to appoint a new Lord President to the province, Edward Fitton, to regain control. After breaking out from a siege in Galway, he besieged Shrule Castle with the support of Richard Burke, Earl of Clanricarde.