Confederate Ireland
practice law in the 1630s in defiance of the Penal Laws, which barred Catholics from the practice of any profession, until the Crown finally put a stop to their practice; later Richard was a key figure in Confederate Ireland. His eldest son Oliver Óge Martyn, despite his father's dubious loyalty to the Crown, was able to hold on to the family estates; unlike his brother Peter, he was never attainted, apparently due to the high regard felt for him by his neighbours.