Richard Nugent, 1st Earl of Westmeath (1583–1642) was an Irish nobleman and politician of the seventeenth century. He was imprisoned for plotting against the English Crown in 1607, but soon obtained a royal pardon, and thereafter was, in general, to be a reliable supporter of the Government, although his loyalty was questioned from time to time. His death resulted from his refusal to take up arms against the English Crown during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Early life He was the eldest son of Christopher Nugent, 6th Baron Delvin, and Lady Mary FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare and his wife Mabel Browne, Countess of Kildare. He succeeded his father as seventh Baron Delvin in 1602. Imprisonment Understandably, the Crown even at this very early point in his career regarded him with suspicion: when he was born his father was in custody on charges of treason, and was to die nineteen years later in prison, suspected of plotting fresh acts of treason. Initially, Richard seems to have acted cautiously: he acknowledged the Crown's authority, and he was knighted at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin in 1603. The Crown's suspicions about his loyalty were fully justified: Delvin was implicated in the conspiracy which led to the Flight of the Earls in 1607 and was imprisoned in Dublin Castle. Due to the lax security in the Castle a servant was able to smuggle a rope into his cell, with which he escaped through the window. He fled for refuge to Cloughoughter Castle, a lake fortress owned by his family in County Cavan. His escape coincided with the arrival of Sir Cahir O'Doherty in Dublin to clear up a misunderstanding in which it had mistakenly been believed O'Doherty had been plotting an uprising. Delvin's escape shattered the government's confidence even in loyal Gaelic lords like O'Doherty, who were suspected of being part of a conspiracy with Delvin and others. The following year an aggrieved O'Doherty and his followers burnt the town of Derry, thus launching O'Doherty's Rebellion. Pardon In 1608 Delvin, having apparently been given assurances of clemency by the Dublin Government, appeared at the English Court and asked for a royal pardon, pleading his youth and ignorance of the world in mitigation of his actions. He seems to have been a young man who was blessed with charm and good looks, which was always a path to favour with King