John Butler, 15th Earl of Ormonde

John Butler (died 1766), known as John Butler of Kilcash, a member of the Irish landed gentry, was de jure 15th Earl of Ormonde and 8th Earl of Ossory. He did not assume these titles as he thought them forfeit by the attainder of the 2nd Duke of Ormond. He did, however, inherit the Ormond estate from the 1st Earl of Arran through his sister Amelia. In 1791, the title of Earl of Ormond would be successfully claimed by his cousin, the 17th Earl.

John Butler
Earl of Ormonde
Reign	1758–1766 de jure
Predecessor	Charles Butler, 1st Earl of Arran,
Successor	Walter Butler, 16th Earl of Ormonde,
Born	c. 1720 probably Kilcash Castle
Died	24 June 1766
Spouse(s)	Bridget Stacey
Detail Issue The marriage was childless
Father	Thomas Butler of Garryricken
Mother	Margaret Magennis
Religion	Catholic

Birth and origins

John was born about 1720,[lower-alpha 1] probably at Kilcash Castle, his parents' habitual residence. He was the third but only surviving son of Thomas Butler of Garryricken and his wife Margaret Magennis. His father belonged to a cadet branch of the Butler Dynasty, being the grandson and heir of Richard Butler of Kilcash, who was the younger brother of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond. John's mother was the eldest daughter of William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde and widow of Bryan Magennis, 5th Viscount of Iveagh. His parents were both Catholic. They had married in 1696.[1] They had eight children, three sons and five daughters.

Family tree

John Butler with wife, parents, and other selected relatives. Thomas Viscount Thurles bef. 1596 – 1619 Elizabeth Pointz 1587–1673 James 1st Duke Ormond 1610–1688 Elizabeth Preston 1630–1684 Richard of Kilcash 1615–1701 Frances Tuchet Thomas 6th Earl Ossory 1633–1680 Emilia von Nassau 1635–1688 Walter of Garryricken d. 1700 Mary Plunkett James 2nd Duke Ormond 1665–1745 Charles 1st Earl Arran 1671–1758 Amelia Butler d. 1760 Thomas of Garryricken d. 1738 Colonel Margaret Magennis 1673–1744 John Butler Thomas Butler 1686–1689 John de jure 15th Earl Ormond d. 1766 Bridget Stacey Walter de jure 16th Earl Ormond 1703–1783 John 17th Earl Ormond 1740–1795 Anne Wandesford 1754–1830 Legend XXX John Butler XXX Earls and dukes of Ormond This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne.[2] Also see the list of siblings in the text.

John listed among his siblings

He appears below among his siblings as the third child: Richard Butler (died 1711), who died following a fall from his horse at Kilcash;[3] Walter Butler, who died of smallpox while at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris;[4] John Butler (died 1766); Mary Butler, who married Bryan Cavanagh, of Borris, County Carlow in 1741;[5] Honora Butler (died 1730), who married Valentine Browne, 3rd Viscount Kenmare, in 1720;[6] Hellen Butler, who married firstly Mr Esmond, and secondly, Richard Butler of Westcourt;[7] Margaret Butler (died 1743), who married George Mathew of Thurles, afterward of Thomastown;[8] Catharine Butler, who became the third wife of James Mandeville, of Ballydyne.[9]

Inheritances and successions

In 1738 his father died.[10] John inherited Kilcash and other parts of the lands of Garryricken Manor, which had been created for his grandfather Richard Butler of Kilcash shortly after 1639[11] and had been divided between his father and his uncle John, who held Garryricken House itself. He did not inherit any title as his father held none.

In 1758, on the death of the 1st Earl of Arran, his father's second cousin, he unknowingly became de jure the 15th Earl of Ormond.[12][13][lower-alpha 2] It had been believed that all the titles of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormond became forfeit in 1715.[14] However, in 1791, it was found that the title of "Earl of Ormond" (and its subsidiary titles) in the peerage of Ireland had merely lain dormant and so were successfully revived by John Butler's cousin, John Butler, 17th Earl of Ormonde.

Following the second Duke's attainder, his estate was administrated by the Forfeited Estates Commissioners. With the permission of the Parliament of Ireland, the estate was purchased in 1721 by the second Duke's brother, Charles, the Earl of Arran.[15] Arran died childless in 1758. The estate passed to his unmarried sister Lady Amelia Butler, who held it for about two years. On her death in 1760, the estate was inherited by John Butler, the subject of this article.[16][17]

Marriage

John Butler married Bridget Stacey on 19 April 1763,[18] but the marriage was childless.[19]

Death and succession

He died on 24 June 1766[19][20][21][lower-alpha 3] and was buried at Kilcash.[22] He was succeeded by his cousin Walter, the son of his uncle John,[22] who unknowingly became de jure the 16th Earl of Ormond.

Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages.
Age	Date	Event
0	1720, about[lower-alpha 1]	Born at Kilcash Castle.
18	1738	Father, Thomas Butler of Garryricken, died.[10]
24	1744	His mother, Margaret Magennis, died.[23]
38	1758, 17 Dec	Unknowingly became the 15th Earl of Ormond (de jure) at Arran's death.
40	1760	Inherited the Ormond estates from Amelia, Arran's unmarried sister.[16]
43	1763, 19 Apr	Married Bridget Stacey.[18]
46	1766, 24 Jun	Died childless.[19]

See also

Butler dynasty

Notes and references

1. His birth date is constrained by the mariage of his parents (1696)[1] plus the gestations of his two elder brothers on one hand, and his father's death (1738) plus his gestation on the other hand.[10]
2. Burke[12] numbers him as the 15th Earl, but Cokayne[13] numbers him as the 16th.
3. Cokayne is wrong about the year.

1. Cokayne 1893, p. 200, line 16: "[His mother] who was b. 1673, m. in 1696 Thomas BUTLER of Kilcash, co. Tipperary ..."
2. Dunboyne 1968, pp. 16–17: "Butler Family Tree condensed"
3. Lodge 1789, p. 42, line 27: "Richard, killed by a fall from his horse at Kilcash, in 1711."
4. Lodge 1789, p. 42, line 29: "Walter, who died, unmarried, of smallpox at the royal Academy at Paris."
5. Lodge 1789, p. 42, line 38: "Daughter Mary, married to Bryan Cavenagh, of Borras in the county of Carlow, Esq. who left her a widow 22 April 1741 ..."
6. Lodge 1789, p. 42, line 41: "Honora, in November 1720, to Valentine, Lord Kenmare, and died of the smallpox in 1730, having two sons ... "
7. Lodge 1789, p. 43, line 6: "Hellen, first to Mr Esmond, brother to Sir Lawrence and John Esmond, Barts., who died 17 December 1736, by the accidental discharge of his gun when fowling; and secondly to Richard Butler of Westcourt, as before observed."
8. Lodge 1789, p. 43, line 10: "Margaret to George Mathew of Thurles, afterwards of Thomastown, Esq.; and died 30 July 1743, leaving one daughter, who died in 1752."
9. Lodge 1789, p. 43, line 13: "Catherine, became the third wife of James Mandeville, of Ballydyne in Tipperary, Esq.; and had no issue."
10. Debrett 1828, p. 642: "Thomas of Kilcash ... d. 1738 ...."
11. Carrigan 1905, p. 318, line 21: "... these townlands to be created the Manor of Garryrickin."
12. Burke 1949, p. 1541, left column, line 4: "JOHN, 15th Earl of Ormonde (de jure) ..."
13. Cokayne 1895, p. 153, line 6: "Earldom [I.] XVI 1758"
14. Smollett 1800, p. 314: "On the twenty-first day of June, Mr. Secretary Stanhope impeached James Duke of Ormond, of high-treason ... "
15. Handley 2004, p. 166, right column: "His English and Irish estates were now administrated by the forfeited estates commissioners until a private act of 1721 allowed Ormond's brother Arran to buy them back."
16. Burke 1949, p. 1541, left column, line 5: "He s. to the estates of the family upon the death of the Earl of Arran's only surv. sister Elizabeth, 1760"
17. Dunboyne 1968, p. 18: "While the 2nd Duke was in exile, his estates were bought in 1721 by his brother, the Earl of Arran, and settled first on their sister, Lady Amelia Butler, who inherited them when, in the words of Walpole 'a young heiress of 99'— she died two months short of her centenary — and secondly on John Butler of Kilcash, the representative of Richard, younger brother of the 1st Duke."
18. Burke 1949, p. 1541, left column, line 6: "He m. April, 1763 Bridget Stacey (who m. secondly 24 Oct. 1771 Rev. Alleyne Waller, LL.D, of The Hermitage, Surrey) of Oakingham Berks. ..."
19. Lodge 1789, p. 42, line 34: "... he [John Butler] died 24 Jun 1766 without issue ..."
20. Burke 1949, p. 1541, left column, line 9: "[John Butler] d.s.p. 24 June 1766, when he was s. in his estates, and his right to the honours of the family by his first cousin."
21. Cokayne 1895, p. 153, line 15: "He [John Butler] d.s.p. 24 June 1786."
22. Dunboyne 1968, p. 19: "Having died childless in 1766, he [John Butler] was buried at Kilcash and was succeeded by his first cousin, Walter, then aged 63.
23. Cokayne 1893, p. 200, line 17: "[His mother] d. there (a widow) 19 July 1744."

• Burke, Bernard (1949), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (99th ed.), London: Burke's Peerage Ltd.
• Carrigan, Rev William (1905), The History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory, 4, Dublin: Sealy Bryers & Walker
• Cokayne, George Edward (1893), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, 5 (1st ed.), London: George Bell and Sons – L to M (for Magennis)
• 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 Ormonde)
• Debrett, John (1828), Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 (17th ed.), London: F. C. and J. Rivington - Scotland and Ireland
• Dunboyne, Patrick Theobald Tower Butler, Baron (1968), Butler Family History (2nd ed.), Kilkenny: Rothe House
• Handley, Stuart (2004), "Butler, James, second duke of Ormond (1605–1745)", in Matthew, Henry Colin Gray.; Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 9, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 163–168, ISBN 0-19-861359-8
• Lodge, John (1789), The Peerage of Ireland, 4, Dublin: James Moore - Viscounts (for John Butler under Butler, Viscount Mountgarrett)
• Smollett, Tobias (1800), The History of England, 2 (A new ed.), London: T. Cadell - From the revolution to the death of George the Second

External links

• Genealogy of John Butler, 15th Earl of Ormonde on the Peerage website

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Charles Butler	Earl of Ormond 1758–1766	Succeeded by Walter Butler