During the final decade of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Archer became a leading figure of hate in the anti-Catholic propaganda of the English government, but his most lasting achievement was his role in the establishment and strengthening of the Irish Colleges in Catholic Europe during the Counter-Reformation.
[3]William Stanley, commander of a regiment of Irish soldiers under English crown authority, had just surrendered the Belgian city of Deventer to Parma and committed himself and his men to the service of the Spanish king.
[4] Archer remained in the Low Countries throughout 1591, then spent three months at Calais before he sailed to Spain, where he became the first rector of the Irish College at Salamanca[5] after a visit to Philip II's court at Madrid.
The chosen assassin had been Hugh Cahill, a Tipperary man, who confessed that he was paid to hang about the court at London, on the off chance that the queen might present herself as a target, and then stab her.
In 1601 Cecil himself was accused of treason at the trial of the Earl of Essex on the basis of his reading of Person's book, but survived this twist and went on to secure the succession of James I upon the queen's death two years later.
In 1596 Archer returned to Ireland, landing in the southeast (at either Waterford or Wexford), with a view to re-establishing the Jesuit mission there and to raise funds for the college at Salamanca.
However exaggerated the reports, it is certain that he was present at the taking of the Earl of Ormond in 1599, when the rebel O'Mores lured the most powerful nobleman in the country to a parley in a remote part of Carlow and seized him by treachery.
It may be that Ormond himself was complicit in the act, with some suggestion that he was indulging in a long game to ensure his power against the hazard of an outright defeat of the English and the removal of their influence from Ireland.
One source later claimed that Ormond had converted to the Catholic faith during his captivity, and Archer is reported to have declared that the earl would be made king of Ireland upon Spanish intervention.
Pope Clement VIII delayed the appointment of a nuncio to Ireland, but at Madrid plans for an Irish expedition were given renewed attention upon the agreement of peace between Spain and France.
In early 1601 Philip III of Spain opted to send an armada with a force of 6000 soldiers, and the Dublin government began preparations to meet the Spanish effort.
Despite the appointment of a Jesuit nuncio – a neutral who was averse to a militant mission in Ireland – Archer managed to defer service in the seminary at Salamanca and involved himself in the Irish expedition instead.
Seeking to rescue Juan del Águila's forces and break the siege, the anti-Tudor coalition of the Irish clans of Ulster under the leadership of Aodh Mór Ó Néill and Red Hugh O'Donnell marched across the whole length of Ireland through extremely bitter winter conditions, but were catastrophically defeated by the English cavalry in December at the battle of Kinsale.
[9] In a letter to Robert Cecil, Lord President of Munster Sir George Carew, "could not forbear", according to Irish historian Proinsias Ó Fionnagáin, "voicing his almost superstitious fear of Archer".
"[10] Consideration was being given at the court of King Philip III to a further expedition, and Archer sailed for Spain on 6 July 1602 (just before the Siege of Dunboy and the capture and execution by hanging of Brother Dominic Collins) to report on the state of Ireland.
"[11] For his part, the commander argued against giving any further aid to the Irish clans and presented the King with a forged letter – leaked to him by Sir George Carew – purporting to be from Archer, in which the priest was supposed to have sought a full pardon from Queen Elizabeth.
Archer's hopes of aid continued, but after the Queen's death in March 1603 Aodh Mór Ó Néill accepted terms of surrender from Lord Mountjoy.
Juan del Aguila was eventually restored to favour, and in Ireland Sir George Carew ordered all Roman Catholic priests to depart the kingdom.
Archer repeatedly sought to return to Ireland, and for years afterwards his imminent arrival was touted in anti-Catholic propaganda by the English government, but the remainder of his life was spent as an exile in Catholic Europe.
[12] Archer spent much time at court, and his approach to his responsibilities is summed up in the following quote, concerning the opportunity afforded through the running of the seminaries: "if we do not take advantage of it we shall do nothing heroic or outstanding".
In this theory of events, the entire plot to kill Elizabeth was a fabrication by the Queen's spymasters designed to establish Archer's credentials and to smoke out Irish conspirators, and the English depiction of him as a super-nimble, supernatural force was an attempt to explain his all too convenient narrow escapes.