Following the death of his patron Stephen Gardiner, whom he had accompanied on several diplomatic missions, he went to Ireland where he was made the Constable of Dublin Castle and Master of Ordnance.
He was appointed to the Irish Council by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, of whom he was a noted supporter.
In 1561 he suffered a military defeat during a skirmish with Shane O'Neill, the leading Gaelic lord in Ulster, who enjoyed strained relations with the Crown.
Although Elizabeth I wanted him to be dismissed from his post for this reverse, Sussex and William Cecil lobbied on his behalf and he remained in office until his death.
Jacques' nephew Edward Maria Wingfield was largely raised by him, after his father's early death, and went on to be a notable settler in Virginia.