Nicholas Hume-Loftus, 2nd Earl of Ely (11 September 1738 – 12 November 1769) was an Anglo-Irish peer, briefly styled Viscount Loftus in October 1766. He represented the constituency of Fethard, County Wexford in the Parliament of Ireland from 1759 to 1766. He was the subject of a notorious legal case regarding his mental capabilities. Family members testified that he was of normal intelligence, and that any eccentric behaviour should be blamed on his father's ill-treatment of him.