  right|thumb|243px|thomas radclyffe, earl of sussex, c. 1560â65 thumb|243px|arms of sir thomas radclyffe, 3rd earl of sussex, kg thomas radclyffe (or ratclyffe), 3rd earl of sussex kg (c. 1525 â 9 june 1583), was lord-lieutenant of ireland during the tudor period of english history, and a leading courtier during the reign of elizabeth i. == family== he was the eldest son of henry radclyffe, 2nd earl of sussex, and his first wife elizabeth howard. his maternal grandparents were thomas howard, 2nd duke of norfolk, and his second wife, agnes tilney. his maternal uncles included (among others) thomas howard, 3rd duke of norfolk, lord edmund howard (father of queen catherine howard, edward howard, william howard, 1st baron howard of effingham, and lord thomas howard. his aunt, elizabeth boleyn, was the mother of queen anne boleyn. == early life == he was born about 1525, and after his father's succession to the earldom in 1542 was styled viscount fitzwalter. after serving in the army abroad, he was employed in 1551 to negotiate a marriage between king edward vi of england and a daughter of henry ii of france. radclyffe's prominence in the kingdom was shown by his inclusion among the signatories to the letters patent of 16 june 1553 settling the crown on lady jane grey as edward's successor; but he nevertheless won favour with queen mary, who employed him in arranging her marriage with philip ii of spain, and who created him baron fitzwalter in august 1553. == sussex in ireland == returning to england from a mission to charles v, holy roman emperor, in april 1556, fitzwalter was appointed lord deputy of ireland. the prevailing anarchy in ireland, a country which, nominally subject to the english crown, was torn by feuds among its practically independent native chieftains, made the task of the lord deputy a difficult one; the difficulty was increased by the ignorance of english statesmen concerning ireland and irish conditions, and by their incapacity to devise any consistent and thoroughgoing policy for bringing the island under an orderly system of administration. fitzwalter effected queen mary's policy for ireland: the reversal of the partial attempts that had been made during the short reign of edward vi to promote protestantism there, the "plantation" by english settlers in the midlands and the shiring of king's county and queen's county in 1556, named after mary and her husband philip.since 1922 queen's county is known as county laois, and king's county 
1520s_births 1583_deaths 16th-century_English_people Earls_in_the_Peerage_of_England Knights_of_the_Garter Lord-Lieutenants_of_Norfolk Lord-Lieutenants_of_Suffolk Lords_Lieutenant_of_Ireland People_of_Elizabethan_Ireland People_of_the_Tudor_period Radclyffe_family