Butler dynasty

Titles

The family held the title of Chief Butler of Ireland. Prior to the creation of the Earldom of Ormonde, the 1st Earl's father, Edmund Butler, had been created the first Earl of Carrick. However, this title did not pass to James Butler. Seven years after his father's death, James was rewarded with an earldom in his own right – Ormond. Subsidiary titles for the earl in the Peerage of Ireland were added: Earl of Ossory (1538) and Viscount Thurles (1536). James Butler, 12th Earl of Ormond served as the commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland and was made Marquess of Ormond in 1642, which title became extinct in 1758. He was made Duke of Ormonde in 1661, and with the title created in the Peerage of England in 1682. After 1682, the spelling "Ormonde" was used almost universally. The title was forfeit in 1715. Subsidiary titles for the duke in the Peerage of England were added: Earl of Brecknock (1660) and Baron Butler (1660).

James Fitzjames Butler, succeeded his grandfather and became the second duke. Accused of treason during the Jacobite rising of 1715, he was attainted and his English peerages declared forfeit. In 1758 his brother Charles, the de jure third duke (Irish), died and the dukedom and marquessate became extinct. The eighteenth earl, James Wandesford Butler, was created as Baron Ormonde, of Llanthony, in the county of Monmouth in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1821 on the coronation of George IV. Later, he was created the Marquess of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland in 1816. On his death in 1820, that title became extinct and the earldoms passed to his brother, for whom the title "Marquess of Ormonde" was re-created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1825. That title became extinct in 1997, while the earldom became dormant.

Lands

The Lordship of Ireland in 1450
Norman Lordships and native kingdoms.

The patrimony of the Butlers of Ormond encompassed most of the modern counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and parts of County Carlow. Only the earldom of Desmond would have had more extensive land holdings than Ormond in the Lordship and Kingdom of Ireland. Following the successful Norman Invasion, the ancient Gaelic lands would have been annexed to the crown and passed as baronies or fiefs to the supporters of the crown (the victorious barons). These (administrative) baronies corresponded to the (Irish) túath ("country") or trícha cét ("thirty hundred [men]") of a Gaelic chief, for example Éile. However, sometimes baronies combined small territories, or split a large one, or were created without regard for the earlier boundaries. In the Norman period most Gaelic chiefs were killed, expelled, or subordinated by the new Norman lord; in the Tudor period, many Gaelic and Hibernicized lords retained their land by pledging allegiance to the Crown under the policy of surrender and regrant.

In 1837, the remains of the following Butler castles were recorded in County Kilkenny alone by Lewis.

"Granny or Grandison Castle, in Iverk, is one of the most considerable: it was the residence of Margaret Fitzgerald, the great Countess of Ormond, a lady of uncommon talents and qualifications, who is said also to have built the castles of Balleen and Coolkill, with several others of minor note. The Butlers owned the castles of Knocktopher, Gowran, Dunfert, Poolestown, Nehorn, Callan, Ballycallan, Damagh, Kilmanagh, and Urlingford..... The castles of Drumroe, Barrowmount, and Low Grange, are said to have belonged to Lord Galmoy;"^[4]

Notable family members

• Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland (died 1206) married Maud de Vavasour; they had three children
• Theobald le Botiller, 2nd Chief Butler of Ireland (died 1230) married Joan de Marais
• Theobald Butler, 3rd Chief Butler of Ireland (1224–1248) married Margaret de Burgh; they had four children
• Theobald Butler, 4th Chief Butler of Ireland (1242–1285) married Joan FitzJohn FitzGeoffrey; they had three children
• Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick (1270–1321) married Joan FitzGerald, Countess of Carrick; they had two children
• James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond (1305–1338) married Eleanor de Bohun; they had six children
• James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond (1331–1382) married Elizabeth Darcy; they had five children
• James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond (died 1405) married Anne Welles; they had five children
• James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (1392–1452) married Joan de Beauchamp; they had three children
• James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond (1420–1461)
• John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond (died 1478)
• Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond (1426–1515) married Anne Hankford

Notable family members

• Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Dunboyne (1271–1329)
• John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne (1731 – May 7 1800)

Notable family members

• Pierce Butler, 4th Viscount Ikerrin (1679–1711). He married twice. First to the Hon. Alicia Boyle then to Olivia St. George
• Thomas Butler, 6th Viscount Ikerrin (1683–1720). He married Margaret Hamilton. They had one child. He was born in Kilkenny, Ireland.
• Somerset Hamilton Butler, 1st Earl of Carrick (1718–1774). He married Lady Juliana Boyle. They had one child. The 8th Viscount was created Earl of Carrick – the second time that an earldom of that name was created for the Butler family. The first creation was for Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick.
• Henry Butler, 2nd Earl of Carrick (1746–1813). He married Sarah Taylor. They had two children. He died in Kilkenny, Ireland.
• Somerset Butler, 3rd Earl of Carrick (1779–1838), brother of the Hon. Henry Edward Butler (1780–1856) he married twice and had five children
• Gina Fratini (Georgina Butler, 1931–2017), the English fashion designer, was the granddaughter of Charles Butler, 7th Earl of Carrick

Notable family members

• Thomas Butler of Cahir (died 1476)

Notable family members

• Sir Richard Butler of Polestown (1395–1443)
• Walter Butler of Polestown
• Walter Butler of Polestown
• Peter Butler of Roscrea
• Walter Butler of Roscrea

Butlers of Mountgarret

Mountgarret may take its name from the townland of Tifeaghna (Mount Garret) in the civil parish of Sheefin, in the barony of Galmoy or from Clomantagh (Mount Garret) in the civil parish of Clomantagh in the County of Crannagh. Both baronies are in the northwestern corner of County Kilkenny. The Viscounts are recorded as significant landowners there (where they occupied lands around Clomantagh Castle for many centuries), as well as holding lands in the neighbouring civil parish of Coolcashin.^[5] It may also refer to a district of the town of New Ross in County Wexford. This branch was in turn an offshoot of the Polestown branch.

Butlers of Cloughgrenan

The second son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond was Sir Edmund Butler of Cloughgrenan who occupied lands at Cloughgrenan (a townland near Carlow town). Tulleophelim (or Tullowphelim) is near the town of Tullow in County Carlow. The castle of Tulleophlim had been built by James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond before 1450.

Butlers of Kilcash and Thurles

The third son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond was John who occupied lands in Kilcash, near Clonmel, County Tipperary. His heirs went on to provide four immediate heirs to the earldom of Ormond when the senior line failed through lack of legitimate male issue.

Butlers of Duiske and Galmoye

Duiske takes its name from Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. Galmoy is a village in the Barony of Galmoy, northwestern Kilkenny. This branch also sprang from the 9th Earl. His younger son was James Butler of Duiske.