Lord Deputy Chichester saw Irish Catholicism as a major threat to the crown. He oversaw widespread persecution of Catholics, and ordered the execution of two bishops, including the aged and respected Conor O'Devany. His relations with the traditionally Catholic nobility of the Pale, in particular the quarrelsome and turbulent Christopher St Lawrence, 10th Baron Howth, were poor. In Howth's violent feuds with the new English settler families, particularly Thomas Jones, Archbishop of Dublin and his son, and Viscount Moore of Drogheda, Chichester invariably sided against Howth, but was unable to completely break his influence as he was a favourite of King James I.