Lord Deputy Thomas Radclyffe, Earl of Sussex had led a well equipped expedition by land and sea to destroy the MacDonnell settlements in 1558. Sussex's conspicuous lack of success had encouraged the English to make an uneasy truce with the MacDonnells in 1560 in order to detach them from their alliance with Shane. During this truce an increased sense of security in their new territories encouraged the MacDonnells to undertake a number of building projects such as the rebuilding of James MacDonnell of Dunnyveg's castle of Red Bay which commanded the strategically important landing beach at Glenariffe (Waterfoot).