In July 1660, he was appointed Solicitor General for Ireland, and in May 1661, he was elected to the Irish House of Commons as member for Carlow Borough; in September, he became the Speaker of Parliament in Ireland. On the death of King Charles II in 1685, Temple, although a staunch Protestant was happy to continue in office under the Roman Catholic James II,[3] and so remained until the Jacobite takeover of 1689, which involved the exclusion of all Protestant office holders in Ireland; at which time he fled to England, and had his estates confiscated by the Patriot Parliament.[4] He was knighted on 15 August 1663.[3]