William Piers (constable)

[4] He was described by a deposition in the high court of admiralty, dated 27 November 1555, as 'a tall burly man with a big, brown beard' who was captain of a ship given to him by James Fitzgerald, 13th Earl of Desmond.

[4] Piers was recruited by the acting governor of Ireland, Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter, to participate in a naval expedition against the Scots in the North Channel and the Hebrides.

[4] Piers and his partners in the enterprise were also contracted to carry out fishing in the River Bann, though this may have merely been a pretext for establishing a naval presence there.

[3][6] After the death of Shane O'Neill, Piers proceeded to attempt to limit further Scottish incursions into the northeast and in the spring of 1569 suffered a defeat by 400 Scots in Clandeboye.

He used his position to develop the commercial potential of Carrickfergus and from 1572 to 1573 he served as the city's mayor, strongly supported by influential local chiefs, such as Sir Brian McPhelim O'Neill, lord of Clandeboye.

[4] In 1574, he was arrested by Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex who accused him of passing military intelligence to Sir Brian McPhelim O'Neill.

[4] His commercial interests proved fruitless as well as his political attempts to make an agreement with Turlough Luineach, with royal support from the queen and the privy council to banish the Scots from Ulster in summer of 1580.