Returning to Ireland he served in the parish of Church of St Nicholas of Myra Without, Dublin, and was made vicar general of the diocese in 1675.
In July 1685 he signed the petition presented by the catholic hierarchy of Ireland to James II asking him to empower the Earl of Tyrconnell to protect them in the exercise of their ministry.
[1] A Compendium of Irish Biography (1878) says of him: "He could with difficulty exercise his functions in public, and was frequently obliged to conceal himself amongst his relatives at Rush.
's accession he held several synods for arranging the shattered affairs of the Church, and through his influence the King was induced to settle £200 per annum out of the Irish revenues upon the Catholic bishops.
After the battle of the Boyne he was tracked to his concealment in the country, and cast into prison, and lingered in a filthy underground cell until 14 July 1692, when death put an end to his sufferings."