He received grants of land in several counties in 1611 - including 14,000 acres in County Galway, mainly around Tynagh and Kileen - and was able to build a new dwelling, Clonyn Castle, near the older family home, Nugent Castle. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords in the Parliaments of 1613-15 and 1634-5, and was appointed a royal commissioner for the redress of grievances in 1633. He accompanied the Duke of Buckingham, the prime royal favourite, to the ill-fated Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré in 1627. He was created Earl of Westmeath in 1621, a sign of the King's continued goodwill. As a leading spokesman for the Roman Catholic community, his loyalty was sometimes questioned, especially after his opposition to the Plantation of Ossory in the mid 1620s, but from 1608 his allegiance to the Crown does not seem to have been seriously in doubt.