With Kildare as the king's leading old colonial lord in Ireland, a major aristocratic rapprochement that spanned the Tudor realm materialised in the 1520s. With the support of Lord Grey of Dorset, Kildare returned to favour at Court and was allied with the Marques through marriage to Elizabeth Grey. After supporting the Boleyn match (albeit with little choice) Kildare was of high standing in an aristocratic faction that also included Wiltshire and Norfolk. Since his governorship, Thomas Howard had been sought by various figures in Ireland but over the course of the decade he became aligned with Kildare. Although the flow of complaints against Kildare contributed to tensions and suspicion, this had long been a feature of Irish politics, and one which the ninth earl was generally confident he could transcend. What follows is an account the Geraldine position from 1524, because as suggested above, a broad assessment from this perspective is required in order to more fully understand the true character of the rebellion. This is attempted, firstly by examining the shared interests of Kildare and Norfolk along with the wider strategies pursued by the earl. Finally, a specific courtly context is assessed in the hope of shedding fresh light on the cultural politics of the Kildare ascendancy.

Kildare campaigned widely across the island from 1524–6, firstly in support of Con Bacach O’Neill, whose appearance at Christ Church had so appalled the author of the ‘Discourse’. The return of Kildare stabilised Ulster and as one of the earl's chief ‘confederates’, O’Neill also campaigned in the midlands. While a crown commission regretted the ‘divers oppressions’ and ‘varyaunce betwixt the said erles…of long season’, concerns were overshadowed by articles of agreement between Desmond and Francis I, for the ‘making of a warre’ against Henry. Kildare's power to arbitrate was demonstrated in the assembling of O’Neill and Hugh Dubh O’Donnell in prolonged attempts to compose terms which finally came to fruition in 1527 when Sir Thomas Fitzgerald (the earl's brother) deputised for Gearóid Óg. Elsewhere in 1526 Kildare intervened in Breifne by imposing his candidate Fearghal O’Reilly before moving west to foray in Connaught. Certain regional interests in contested parts of south Leinster were important to the maintenance of this alliance. Norfolk's vast inheritance included estates and titles in Ireland, many of which were controlled by Kildare.