Sir Nicholas Plunkett was an Anglo-Irish lawyer and politician.
11 Facts About Nicholas Plunkett
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Nicholas Plunkett was a younger son of Christopher Plunkett, 9th Baron Killeen and Jane Dillon, daughter of Sir Lucas Dillon: his brother Luke was created Earl of Fingall in 1628.
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At the age of twenty Plunkett travelled to London to receive training as a lawyer at Gray's Inn in London, and later trained at King's Inn in Dublin.
4.
At the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Nicholas Plunkett attempted to remain neutral.
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Nicholas Plunkett played a prominent role in the foundation of the Confederation of Kilkenny, sitting as chairman at the first meeting of the Confederate Assembly and was a member of the Confederate Supreme Council.
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In 1644 Plunkett was a member of a Confederate delegation sent to negotiate a treaty with King Charles I The first Ormond Peace was eventually arranged in 1646, but despite Plunkett's efforts, the Catholic Clergy of Ireland rejected the treaty.
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Nicholas Plunkett was a deeply religious man, who impressed the Papal Nuncio, Rinuccini after his arrival in Ireland in late 1645.
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When Nicholas Plunkett returned, the clerical faction of the Confederates had lost influence, and so Nicholas Plunkett became involved in negotiations for a second Ormond Peace, eventually signed in early 1649.
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Nicholas Plunkett's luck changed at the Restoration in 1660, however: the endless disputes between the dispossessed Irish landholders and the planters enabled him to restore his legal practice to its former esteem.
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Nicholas Plunkett married Catherine Turner, daughter of William Turner, an Alderman of Dublin; their daughter Jane married Valentine Browne, 1st Viscount Kenmare.
11.
Nicholas Plunkett died on Christmas Day 1680, and was buried in Killeen, County Meath.