Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond

Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Ossory (1467 – 26 August 1539) also known as (Irish Piers Ruadh) Red Piers, was from the Polestown branch of the Butler family of Ireland.

Piers Butler
8th Earl of Ormond[1]
Arms of the Butler Family
Hereditary
Earl of Ormond[1]1515–1539
PredecessorThomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond
SuccessorJames Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond
Titles and styles
8th Earl of Ormond
1st Earl of Ossary
Born1467
Died26 August 1539
FamilyHouse of Butler[1][2]
SpouseLady Margaret FitzGerald
Issue
James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond
Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret
Thomas Butler
Margaret Butler
Catherine Butler
Joan Butler
Ellice Butler
Eleanor Butler
Helen Butler

Illegitimate Children
Edmund Butler
FatherSir James Butler[2]
MotherSabh Kavanaugh, Princess of Leinster[2]
OccupationPeerage of Ireland[1]

Family

He was the son of Sir James Butler, Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord of the Manor of Advowson of Callan (1438–1487) and Sabh Kavanagh, Princess of Leinster, daughter of Donal Reagh Kavanagh, MacMurrough, King of Leinster (1396–1476).[2] He married Lady Margaret FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and had 9 children by that marriage: 3 sons and 6 daughters.[2]

Claims to the title

During the prolonged absence from Ireland of the earls, his father Sir James Butler (d. 1487)[3] had laid claim to the Ormond land and titles. This had precipitated a crisis in the Ormond succession when the seventh earl later died without a male heir. On 20 March 1489, King Henry VII appointed him High Sheriff of County Kilkenny. He was knighted prior to September 1497. The following year (1498) he seized Kilkenny Castle and with his wife, Margaret FitzGerald (d. 1542), the dynamic daughter of the earl of Kildare, probably improved the living accommodation there. On 28 February 1498 he received a pardon for crimes committed in Ireland, including the murder of James Ormonde, heir to the 7th Earl. He was also made Seneschal of the Liberty of Tipperary on 21 June 1505, succeeding his distant relation, James Butler, 9th Baron Dunboyne. On the death of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormonde on 3 August 1515, Piers Butler became the 8th Earl of Ormond. On 6 March 1522, the King appointed him Chief Governor of Ireland as Lord Deputy; he held this office until 13 May 1524 when he became Lord Treasurer.

Loss of title

One of the heirs general to the Ormond inheritance was Thomas Boleyn, whose mother was a Butler. Boleyn was the father of Anne, whose star was rising at the court of King Henry VIII of England. As the king wanted the titles of Ormond and Wiltshire for Thomas Boleyn, he induced Butler and his coheirs to resign their claims on 18 February 1528. Aided by the king's Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Butler was granted the earldom of Ossory.

Restoration of title

On 22 February 1538, the earldom of Ormond was restored to him. He died on 26 August 1539 and was buried in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny city.

Marriage and children

In about 1485, he married Lady Margaret FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Alison FitzEustace. The marriage was political; arranged with the purpose of healing the breach between the two families.[4] In the early years of their marriage, Margaret and her husband were reduced to penury by James Dubh Butler, a nephew, heir to the earldom and agent of the absentee 7th Earl, who resided in England.[5] Piers Butler retaliated by murdering James Dubh in an ambush in 1497. He was pardoned for his crime on 22 February 1498.

They had 3 sons and six daughters.

Sons:

Daughters:

The Earl had an illegitimate son, Edmund Butler, who became the Archbishop of Cashel. The Earl also had an illegitimate elder brother, Theobald Butler.

Ancestry
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See also

References
  1. Ellis, S. G. (2014). Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, 1447-1603: English Expansion and the End of Gaelic Rule. Routledge.
  2. Edwards, D. (2003). The Ormond lordship in County Kilkenny, 1515-1642: the rise and fall of Butler feudal power. Four Courts Pr Ltd.
  3. Royal Descents and Pedigrees of Founders' Kin, Pedigree CXXI, by Sir Bernard Burke (1864)
  4. libraryireland.com, "The Geraldines: The House of Desmond and The House of Kildare", taken from A History of Ireland, by Eleanor Hull, retrieved 23 April 2010
  5. libraryireland.com, "The Geraldines: The House of Desmond and The House of Kildare," taken from A History of Ireland, by Eleanor Hull, retrieved 23 April 2010
  6. The peerage of Ireland: Volume 2 , 1789
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl of Ossory
1528–1539		 Succeeded by
James Butler
Preceded by
Thomas Butler		 Earl of Ormond
1538–1539
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