He fought for Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War but was imprisoned as a suspected Royalist, a suspicion later confirmed by the rewards he received after the Restoration of Charles II.
He was almost certainly one of the party who had been working quietly (and successfully) to ensure that there would be no serious opposition to the Restoration in Ireland, and he helped to secure Dublin Castle for the King in early 1660.
[2] He re-entered the House of Commons as MP for St Canice (Irishtown), became a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, was knighted and received several grants of land under the Act of Settlement 1662, includes an estate at Ballybrittas, County Laois.
He received a fresh army commission, became a lieutenant colonel in the King's Regiment of Guards, and is said to have seen active service in Ulster in old age.
Elrington Ball describes him as an attractive character; by his own admission he was "no scholar", but he was generous and hospitable, a good friend and family man and a kindly employer.