Thomas Nugent, 1st Baron Nugent of Riverston

He was brought up to the law, and after the accession of James II, he was made King's Counsel in September 1685, although his enemies said that he was "no lawyer", and he certainly did not have a large practice.

During the following winter, he was in communication with the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, who treated him as a representative of the Irish Catholics.

Their children were: His title of Baron Nugent of Riverston, though disputed in law, was borne by his descendants until it merged in the earldom of Westmeath (1839).

An act of Henry VII, forbidding the keeping of guns without license of government, was revived and interpreted so as to deprive Protestants of their arms.

He was often criticized for his undignified manner on the Bench, and was inclined to squabble with colleagues, notably Sir John Lyndon, over who had precedence.

[1] Early in 1688 Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell sent Nugent to England with the Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, Stephen Rice, to concert measures for the repeal of the Act of Settlement 1662.

Nugent was at Limerick during or soon after William's initial siege, and acted as secretary in Sir Richard Nagle's absence from September till the following January.