The family descended from Theobald Walter (d. 1205), eldest son of Hervey Walter and Maud de Valoignes. During the reign of Henry II of England Theobald held the position of pincerna (Latin) or boteillier (Norman French), the ceremonial cup-bearer or butler to Prince John, Lord of Ireland. He also held the office of Chief Butler of England and was the High Sheriff of Lancashire during 1194.[1]
His younger brother Hubert Walter (c.1160–1205) became the Archbishop of Canterbury and Justiciar and Lord Chancellor of England.
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 Lordship of Ireland in 1450 Norman Lordships and native kingdoms.
The family seat, since 1391, was Kilkenny Castle;[2] their main estate was previously at Gowran Castle.[3] From Kilkenny, the Butlers claimed overlordship of the surrounding Gaelic kingdoms of Ormond, Éile, Ikerrin and part of Osraige.
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]
Members of the Butler family continued to live in Kilkenny Castle until 1935.
Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Cahir (died 1558), son of Thomas Butler of Cahir. His brother, Piers Butler of Cahir, would later supply future barons when his own line failed to produce any other male heirs upon the death of his own son.
Thomas Butler, 3rd Baron Cahir, son of Piers Butler, cousin of the 1st Baron of the second creation and grandson of the 1st Baron of the first creation. Richard Butler, 10th Baron Caher was created Earl of Glengall (Peerage of Ireland) in 1816.
Butlers of Polestown and Roscrea
This branch also sprang from the 3rd Earl. Three distinct branches are associated with this branch of the family. The family tree splits firstly with Edmund MacRichard Butler; his eldest son, Sir James, founded the most illustrious sub-branch with his progeny going on to supply the 8th Earl of Ormond; his second son, Walter, founded the lesser sub-branch with his progeny going on to become baronets of Polestown. This sub-branch split thirdly to found a Roscrea branch in the barony of Ikerrin, County Tipperary, beginning with Walter's grandson.
Note: "Polestown" is also spelled in the records as Poolestown". It is now identified with the town of Paulstown in Gowran, County Kilkenny.
The common ancestor here is Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond. Three minor family branches sprang from his eldest son – James; Cloughgrenan, Kilcash and Duiske / Galmoye, His younger son, Richard Butler, founded the junior but long lasting Mountgarret line.
Senior line – earls of Ormond, heirs of the 8th earl
Mountgarret line – heirs of the second son of the 8th earl
Cloughgrenan line – heirs of the second son of the 9th earl
Kilcash and Thurles line – heirs of the third son of the 9th earl
Garryricken line – heirs of the third son of the 11th earl
Duiske and Galmoye line – heirs of the 10th earl
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. In 1911 the 14th Viscount Mountgarret was created Baron Mountgarret of Nidd, West Riding, Yorkshire in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
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.
Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond, son of John and the first member of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom when the senior branch failed to leave legitimate male issue.
John Butler, 15th Earl of Ormonde, son of Colonel Thomas, great-grandnephew of the 1st Duke. He succeeded to the earldom (but not the dukedom) when the last member of senior Kilcash line, Charles, failed to produce a legitimate male heir.
John Butler of Garryricken, second son of Walter and brother of Colonel Thomas, grand-nephew of the 1st Duke.
House Butler was a large dynasty with many titles, large amounts of land and a considerable amount of wealth, with close ties to the royal families of England and later other countries. Consequently, it has numerous descendants and sub-houses throughout the world, particularly in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
.jpg)
_(2).jpg)
.jpg)
