 In 1676 he was appointed a farmer of the Irish Revenue and sold his interest for a profit of £4,000.On 6 August 1677 Sheridan received an honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law from the University of Oxford and on 6 February 1679 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.He was imprisoned in 1680 for allegedly conspiring in the Popish Plot and on 15 December 1680 he gave evidence before the House of Commons but, as Parliament was dissolved shortly afterwards, was set free.