Nicholas Plunkett

Sir Nicholas Plunkett (1602–1680) was the son of Christopher Plunkett, 9th Baron Killeen and Jane (or Genet) Dillon, daughter of Sir Lucas Dillon. His brother Luke was created Earl of Fingall in 1628. At the age of twenty Plunkett traveled to London to receive training as a lawyer at Gray's Inn in London, and later trained at King's Inn in Dublin. By the 1630s he had established a thriving legal practice: the attempts by Thomas Wentworth, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to confiscate as much Irish land as possible to the Crown, ensured that his services were in high demand. At this time he also became an MP in the Irish House of Commons, sitting for Meath.

At the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Plunkett attempted to remain neutral. However, in mid-1642 government troops looted and torched his home in Balrath, County Meath: Plunkett unsurprisingly thereafter gave support to the leaders of the Irish Insurgents. He played a prominent role in the foundation of the Confederation of Kilkenny, sitting as chairman at the first meeting of the Confederate Assembly and was also a member of the Confederate Supreme Council (one of six members representing the province of Leinster). Plunkett was also appointed Muster-Master general.