Earl of Ossory is a

subsidiary title A subsidiary title is a title of authority or title of honour that is held by a royal or noble person but which is not regularly used to identify that person, due to the concurrent holding of a greater title. United Kingdom An example in the Unit ...

held by the Earl of Ormond that was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1528. During King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's pursuit of

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

, who would be his second wife, he arranged for the main claimant to the earldom of Ormond,

Piers Butler Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Ossory (1539) also known as Red Piers (Irish ''Piers Ruadh''), was from the Polestown–– branch of the Butler family of Ireland. In the succession crisis at the death of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl ...

, to renounce all his claims to the titles in favour of Anne's father, Thomas Boleyn. Butler was rewarded for his compliance by being created Earl of Ossory on 22 February 1528. In 1662, the eldest son of

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failur ...

was called to the Irish House of Lords on a writ of acceleration and became known as Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory. His father held the title "5th Earl of Ossory" as one of his

subsidiary titles A subsidiary title is a title of authority or title of honour that is held by a royal or noble person but which is not regularly used to identify that person, due to the concurrent holding of a greater title. United Kingdom An example in the Unit ...

, which made Thomas Butler the 6th Earl by

courtesy Courtesy (from the word ''courteis'', from the 12th century) is gentle politeness and courtly manners. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the behaviour expected of the nobility was compiled in courtesy books. History The apex of European courtly cul ...

. He predeceased his father and thus never became Earl of Ormonde in his own right.

References

Butler dynasty 1528 establishments in Ireland Dormant earldoms in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1528 {{Noble-stub