Sidney oversees the opening in 1569 of…

Sidney oversees the opening in 1569 of the Irish parliament, the first to be held for ten years.

In pursuance of this policy Sidney proposes the appointment of a military governor ("Lord President") in the provinces of Munster and Connaught.

Gilbert, who had gone on to write an account of strange and turbulent visions he had witnessed early in 1567, in which he had received the homage of Solomon and Job, with their promise to grant him access to secret mystical knowledge, also has returned to Ireland and is appointed to the profitless office of governor of Ulster, serving as a member of the Irish parliament.

At about this time he petitions the queen's principal secretary, Lord Burghley, for a recall to England—"for the recovery of my eyes"—but his ambitions still rest in Ireland, and particularly in the province of Munster.

Gilbert in April 1569 proposes the establishment of a presidency and council for the province of Ulster, and pursues the notion of an extensive settlement around Baltimore (in modern County Cork), which is approved by the Dublin council.

At the same time, he is involved with Sidney and the secretary of state, Sir Thomas Smith, in planning a large settlement of the northern province of Ulster by Devonshire gentlemen.