Henry VII sent Sir Edward Poynings as Viceroy to Ireland. Poynings summoned the Irish parliament to Drogheda in 1494. The Irish parliament was made subservient to the British one, and could not be summoned without the knowledge and agreement of the king. All its proposed laws had to be submitted to him for approval as well. The aim was to reduce the whole country to obedience and remove for good the danger of Ireland being used as a base to anyone who might pose a threat to Henry's crown.

The Earl of Kildare was arrested on suspicion of treasonable alliances with the Gaelic chieftains, but this provoked another uprising and Henry was forced to restore him to power in 1496. Fitzgerald remained the most important and powerful figure in the country until his death in 1513 when he was succeeded by his son Garret Og Fitzgerald.