Complex sentence: Sir Thomas Phillips was described as "a pushing soldier of fortune and a protégé of Sir Robert Cecil" first arrived in Ireland in 1599 and it was Phillips who took O’Neill's fortress of Toome in 1602.
Split into simpler sentences: Sir Thomas Phillips was described as "a pushing soldier of fortune and a protégé of Sir Robert Cecil". He first arrived in Ireland in 1599 and it was Phillips who took O’Neill's fortress of Toome in 1602.