Margaret Magennis, Viscountess Iveagh

Margaret Magennis (Irish: Maighréad Nic Aonghusa Irish pronunciation: [ˈməirʲe:d nikʲ ˈi:Nusə]), Viscountess Iveagh /ˈaɪveɪ/ (1673–1744), née Burke and also known as Margaret Butler, was the mother of John Butler, the de jure 15th Earl of Ormond. She is remembered by the song A Lament for Kilcash.[1] In terms of Gaelic nomenclature, she would have been known by her maiden name, regardless of whom she married: hence Maighréad de Búrca – "Margaret Burke" (Irish pronunciation: [ˈməirʲe:d dʲə ˈbu:rkə]).

Margaret Magennis, née Burke
Viscountess Iveagh
Born	Margaret Burke 1673
Died	19 July 1744 Kilcash Castle
Spouse(s)	Bryan, 5th Viscount Iveagh Thomas Butler of Garryricken
Detail Issue John & others
Father	William, 7th Earl of Clanricarde
Mother	Helen MacCarty

Birth and origins

Margaret was born in 1673 as the eldest daughter of William Burke and his second wife Helen MacCarty. Her father was the 7th Earl of Clanricarde. The Burkes were an Old English family. Margaret's mother was her father's second wife and the eldest daughter of Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty. The MacCartys were a Gaelic family. Both parents were Roman Catholic. They married in 1696.[2]

Her father's first wife was Lettice,[3] daughter of Henry Shirley, an English baronet,[4] and a Protestant. Margaret had half-siblings from her father's first marriage. Her mother also had been married before, but that marriage was childless.

Family tree

Margaret Burke with her two husbands, one notable child, her parents, and other relatives. Ulick Burke 3rd Earl Clanricarde d. 1601 Thomas Butler Viscount Thurles d. 1619 Sir William Burke d. 1625 Donough 1st Earl Clancarty 1594–1665 Eleanor Butler 1612–1682 James Butler 1st Duke Ormond 1610–1688 Lettice Shirley 1617–1655 William Burke 7th Earl Clanricarde d. 1687 Helen MacCarty d. 1722 Justin Viscount Mount- cashel d. 1694 Ulick Burke 1670–1691 Bryan Magennis 5th Viscount Iveagh Margaret Burke 1673–1744 Thomas Butler of Garryricken d. 1738 Honora Burke 1674–1698 John de jure 15th Earl Ormond d. 1766 Bridget Stacey Legend XXX Margaret Magennis XXX Earls of Clanricarde XXX Earls & dukes of Ormond First husband on the left, second on the right. Also see the lists of siblings and children.

Margaret listed among her full siblings
She appears below among her full siblings as the second child:[lower-alpha 1] Ulick (1670–1691), created Viscount of Galway and slain at the Battle of Aughrim fighting for the Jacobites;[5] Margaret (1673–1744); William, died childless in France;[6][lower-alpha 1] and Honora (1674–1698), who married first Patrick Sarsfield and then the Duke of Berwick.[7][8][lower-alpha 1]

Margaret's half-brothers[9]
Richard (died after 1708), became the 8th Earl of Clanricarde;[10] John (1642–1722), became the 9th Earl of Clanricarde.[11] and Thomas (died 1688), killed at the Siege of Buda, Hungary;[12][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][13]

First marriage

Margaret married twice. She married first in 1689 Bryan Magennis, 5th Viscount Iveagh, from County Down in Ulster.[14] He supported King James II, was attainted and took Austrian service. He died in 1693. The marriage seems to have been childless.

She seems to have fled to Limerick at the end of the Williamite War, at least she is mentioned among the people that were allowed to leave Galway for Limerick when Lord Dillon surrendered the town to Ginkel on 26 July 1691.[15]

Second marriage and children

In 1696 she married secondly Colonel Thomas Butler of Garryricken, also known as Thomas Butler of Kilcash,[16] the grandson of Richard Butler of Kilcash.[17]

With him, she had eight children, three sons and five daughters:

1. Richard Butler (died 1711), who died following a fall from his horse at Kilcash.[18]
2. Walter Butler, who died of smallpox at the Royal Academy at Paris.[19]
3. John Butler (died 1766), who became the 15th Earl of Ormond and inherited the estates of Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran.[20]
4. Mary Butler, who married Bryan Cavanagh, of Borris, County Carlow.[21]
5. Honora Butler (died 1730), who married Valentine, Lord Kenmare, in November 1720.[22]
6. Hellen Butler, who married firstly Mr Esmond, and secondly, Richard Butler of Westcourt.[23]
7. Margaret Butler (died 1743), who married George Matthew of Thurles, afterward of Thomastown.[24] and
8. Catharine Butler, who became the third wife of James Mandeville, of Ballydine.[25]

Death

She died on 19 July 1744 at Kilcash Castle.[17] She is buried in the Butler Mausoleum at Kilcash. She is also remembered by the Irish song A Lament for Kilcash,[1] written much later, in the 19th century, to her memory.

See also

• Earl of Clanricarde, for her father's title.
• Earl of Ormond (Ireland), for her son John's title.
• Magennis, the surname of her first husband.

Notes and references

1. Lodge by error ignores Clanricarde's second marriage to Helen MacCarty and lists all the children as born by Lettice Shirley, his first wife.
2. There probably is some error here as the siege of Buda was in 1686.

1. Mangan 1850, p. 197: "A LAMENT FOR KILCASH"
2. Lodge 1789a, p. 138, line 27: "Margaret, born in 1673 and married first in 1689 to Bryan Viscount Magennis, of Iveagh who dying in 1692, she remarried in 1696 with Thomas Butler of Kilcash in the co. of Tipperary, Esq.; where she died his widow, 19 July 1744."
3. Cokayne 1913, p. 232: "He m. 1stly Lettice, da. of Sir Henry Shirley, Bart. by Dorothy da. of Robert (DEVEREUX) EARL OF ESSEX."
4. Burke 1949, p. 753, right column"Sir Henry Shirley, 2nd Bt., m. 1 August 1616 Dorothy, yst. dau. of QUEEN ELIZABETH's accomplished but unfortunate favourite, 2nd Earl of Essex ... Sir Henry d. 8 Fen 1632-3 ..."
5. Lodge 1789a, p. 138, line 13: "Ulick, created by privy seal, dated at Whitehall, 9 May, and by patent 2 June 1687, baron of Tyaquin in the co. of Galway, and Viscount of Galway; was a nobleman of true courage and endowed with many good qualities; he commanded a regiment of foot in K. James's army; and in that station was killed at Aghrim, 12 July 1691, being not full 22 years old."
6. Lodge 1789a, p. 138, line 26: "William died in his minority in France."
7. Burke 2005, p. 21: "Honora de Burgh was born c. 1675 at Portumna Castle co. Galway."
8. Lodge 1789a, p. 138, line 32: "Lady Honora (first married to Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, who was killed in the battle of Landen, 29 July, 1693, by whom she had one son who died without issue in Flanders, and secondly was married in the chapel of the Castle of St Germains, near Paris, in 1695, to James Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick, Marshal, Duke and Peer of France, eldest natural son of James II. by Arabella, sister to John Churchill Duke of Marlborough, one of the greatest generals in Europe, who was killed at the siege of Philipsburgh, 12 June, 1734, leaving issue by her (who died at Pezenas, a city of Languedoc, in 1698), James-Francis ..."
9. Debrett 1828, p. 643: "RICHARD, 6th earl, who also d. without issue, and was succeeded by his brother WILLIAM, 7th earl, father of RICHARD, 8th earl (who died without issue) and JOHN, 9th earl, who d. 17 October 1722, leaving issue."
10. Cokayne 1913, p. 233: "8. RICHARD (BOURKE), EARL OF CLANRICARDE & [I.], s. and h. by 1st wife. He conformed to the established Church in or before 1681."
11. Cokayne 1913, p. 234: "9. JOHN (BOURKE), EARL OF CLANRICARDE & [I.], br. and h. male by full blood. He was born 1642 ..."
12. Lodge 1789a, p. 138, line 11: "Thomas, who was killed in 1688 at the siege of Buda, in Hungary, then possessed by the Turks ..."
13. Burke 1869, p. 228, left column, line 6: "Thomas, killed at Buda."
14. Cokayne 1893, p. 200, line 11: "He [Bryan] m. in 1689 Margaret, da. of William (DE BURGH), 7th EARL OF CLANRICARDE [I.] ... "
15. Boulger 1911, p. 247, line 17: "Among those who marched out of Galway with d'Usson and Dillon were Lady Iveagh ... "
16. Debrett 1828, p. 642: "THOMAS, of Kilcash, m. Margaret, eldest daughter of William, earl of Clanricarde and widow of Bryant Magennis, viscount Iveagh and d. 1738 ...."
17. Cokayne 1893, p. 200, line 16: "His [Bryan Magennis] widow, who was b. 1673, m. in 1696 Thomas BUTLER of Kilcash, co. Tipperary, and d. there (a widow) 19 July 1744."
18. Lodge 1789b, p. 42, line 27: "Richard, killed by a fall from his horse at Kilcash, in 1711."
19. Lodge 1789b, p. 42, line 29: "Walter, who died, unmarried, of smallpox at the royal Academy at Paris."
20. Lodge 1789b, p. 42, line 31: "John Butler of Kilcash, Esq., who succeeded to the estates of the Earl of Arran, and married in April 1763 the daughter of ..."
21. Lodge 1789b, 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 ..."
22. Lodge 1789b, p. 42, line 41: "Honora, in November 1720, to Valentine, Lord Kenmare, and died of the smallpox in 1730, having two sons ... "
23. Lodge 1789b, 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."
24. Lodge 1789b, p. 43, line 10: "Margaret to George Matthew of Thurles, afterwards of Thomastown, Esq.; and died 30 July 1743, leaving one daughter, who died in 1752."
25. Lodge 1789b, p. 43, line 13: "Catherine, became the third wife of James Mandeville, of Ballydyne in Tipperary, Esq.; and had no issue."

• Boulger, Demetrius Charles (1911), The Battle of the Boyne, London: Martin Secker
• Burke, Jim (2005), A History Of Burke in Ireland - Jim Burke!
• Burke, Bernard (1869), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (31st ed.), London: Harrison (for Clanricarde)
• Burke, Bernard (1949), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (99th ed.), London: Burke's Peerage Ltd. (for Shirley under Ferrers)
• 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 (1913), Gibbs, Vicary (ed.), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, 3 (2nd ed.), London: St Catherine Press – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clanricarde)
• 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
• Lodge, John (1789a), The Peerage of Ireland, 1, Dublin: James Moore - Blood royal, dukes, earls (for Clanricarde)
• Lodge, John (1789b), The Peerage of Ireland, 4, Dublin: James Moore - Viscounts (for Butler, Viscount Mountgarret)
• Mangan, James Clarence (1850), The Poets and Poetry of Munster, Dublin: John O'Daly

External links

• Genealogy of Lady Margaret Bourke on The Peerage website