During 1564-5 the expansion of MacDonnell influence to Lecale threatened to bring much of the eastern coastline of Ulster directly under their control. Much of the province of Ulster had now come under Shane's authority in the period following his return from his visit to London. The reduction of MacDonnell power would remove a growing threat that the English had already begun to exploit against him before his London visit. It would also serve to underline the failure of Sussex in his undertaking of the same task seven years earlier, and dramatically display to Queen Elizabeth I of England just how useful her recognition of Shane's hegemony in Ulster could be to her.