Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond

Thomas was born about February 1531.[1] He was the eldest son of James Butler and his wife Joan FitzGerald. His father was the 9th Earl of Ormond. Thomas's mother was the only child of James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond.

James and Joan had seven sons:

1. Thomas (1532–1614), the subject of this article;
2. Edmund (1534–1602), married Eleanor Eustace and had a sons, among which Theobald;
3. John (before 1546 – 1570), married Katherine MacCartie and had a son Walter;
4. Edward of Ballinahinch, married Mary Bourke, daughter of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde;
5. Walter of Nodstown;
6. James of Duiske;
7. Piers of Grantstown.

He built the Tudor Manor House extension to Ormonde Castle on his estates in Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. Much of his life was taken up with a fierce feud with his hereditary foe, Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, son of James FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond. The two sides fought a pitched battle in 1565, the Battle of Affane. Butler's victory, not only in the field but also in the handling the political fallout, helped to spark the Desmond Rebellions. This struggle (1569–1573) and 1579–1583) desolated Munster for many years. Ormond was a Protestant belonging to the Church of Ireland[2] and threw his great influence on the side of Queen Elizabeth I and her ministers in their efforts to crush the rebels, although he was motivated as much by factional rivalry with the Desmond dynasty as by religion.[3] He had command of the Royal Irish Army tasked with the suppression of the rebellions, which he eventually accomplished.

Quartered arms of Sir Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, KG

Ormond and Elizabeth I met in London as children. Thomas, the "son of an Irish Earl", and Elizabeth, the "illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII", shared a common experience: Neither was well-treated by the other young nobles at court. They were cousins as well through her mother, Anne Boleyn; Boleyn's paternal grandmother, Lady Margaret Butler, was a daughter of the Ormond dynasty in Ireland. Elizabeth called him her "black husband." In 1588, the Queen bestowed on Ormond what a poet described as áirdchéim Ridireacht Gáirtéir, / ainm nár ghnáth é ar Éirionnach ("the high honour of the Knighthood of the Garter, a title unusual for an Irishman").

Ormond built a Tudor-style castle (Carrick-on-Suir) along the river Suir, which he decorated lavishly and even had red brick chimneys built on, which, at the time, were very expensive. All of this was to provide Elizabeth with a suitable palace at which to stay when she travelled to Ireland. Elizabeth planned twice to visit the castle: once in 1602 (which visit was canceled by her illness); and again in 1603. She died, however, before the visit. It is known that Elizabeth appreciated Thomas' effort, and was - as she was with all of her maternal cousins - very fond of him. Thomas survived Elizabeth by 11 years.

He first married Elizabeth Berkeley, daughter of Thomas Berkeley, 6th Baron Berkeley and Anne Savage. They separated in 1564 without having had children.

He then married Elizabeth Sheffield on 9 November 1582 at London. She was the daughter of John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield and Douglas, daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham. They had three children:

1. John (1584–1589), died young;[5]
2. Elizabeth (before 1593 – 1628), married, firstly, her first cousin Theobald, son of Thomas's brother Edmund, but Theobald died childless in 1613; she married, secondly, Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond, and had one daughter, Elizabeth Preston;
3. Thomas (before 1601 – 1606), died young.[6]

In 1601 he married Helena Barry, daughter of David Fitz-James de Barry, 5th Viscount Buttevant, without issue.

The Earl also had an illegitimate son, Piers FitzThomas Butler of Duisk, who married Catherine Fleming, by whom he had a son, Edward Butler, 1st Viscount Galmoye.

Lord Ormond died on 22 November 1614.[7] As the Earl died without legally recognised male issue, the Earldom reverted in the male line, to the junior branch of the family through his brother John Butler of Kilcash.

Included:[8]

• Treasurer of Ireland (1559–1614)
• Lieutenant of County Tipperary (1575)
• Lieutenant of County Kilkenny (1575)
• Lord General of the Forces in Munster (1582–1583)
• General of the Forces in Leinster (1594–1596)
• Lieutenant-General of the all Forces in Ireland (1597)
• Vice-Admiral of Leinster (1602)

• Carte, Thomas (1851), The Life of James Duke of Ormond, 1 (new ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press - 1613–1641
• Cokayne, George Edward (1895), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, 6 (1st ed.), London: George Bell and Sons – N to R (for Ormond)
• Dunboyne, Patrick Theobald Tower Butler, Baron (1968), Butler Family History (2nd ed.), Kilkenny: Rothe House
• Edwards, David (2004), "Butler, Thomas, tenth earl of Ormond and third earl of Ossory (1531–1558)", in Matthew, Henry Colin Gray.; Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 9, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 220–225, ISBN 0-19-861359-8

• Genealogy of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde on The Peerage website