Sir Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond and 4th Earl of Ossory (1559–1633), succeeded his uncle
the 10th earl, in 1614. He was called "Walter of the Beads" because he was a devout Catholic, whereas his uncle had been a Protestant.
King James I
James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...
intervened and awarded half of the inheritance to his uncle's Protestant daughter
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
. Ormond contested the King's decision and was for that detained in the
Fleet Prison from 1619 until 1625 when he submitted to the King's ruling. He then found a means to reunite the Ormond estate, by marrying his grandson
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
, who had been raised a Protestant, to Elizabeth's only daughter.
Birth and origins
Walter was born in 1559, the second son of
John Butler of Kilcash
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
and his wife Katherine MacCarthy. His father was a younger son of
James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond
James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and 2nd Earl of Ossory ( – 1546), known as the Lame (Irish: ''Bacach''), was in 1541 confirmed as Earl of Ormond thereby ending the dispute over the Ormond earldom between his father, Piers Butler, 8th Earl o ...
. His father's family, the
Butler Dynasty
Butler ( ga, de Buitléir) is the name of a noble family whose members were, for several centuries, prominent in the administration of the Lordship of Ireland and the Kingdom of Ireland. They rose to their highest prominence as Dukes of Ormonde. ...
, was
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
and descended from
Theobald Walter, who had been appointed chief butler of Ireland by
King Henry II in 1177.
Walter's mother was a daughter of
Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh
Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, 13th Prince of Carbery (1490–1567) was an Irish chieftain who owned almost half a million acres in south west Ireland.
Birth and origins
Cormac was born in Carbery (barony), Carbery about 1490, the eldest ...
. Her father was the 13th
prince of Carbery
Carbery, or the Barony of Carbery, was once the largest barony in Ireland, and essentially a small, semi-independent kingdom on the southwestern coast of Munster, in what is now County Cork, from its founding in the 1230s by Donal Gott MacCarthy ...
. Her family was
Gaelic Irish
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...
. Walter's parents were both Catholic. Walter was one of four siblings,
who are listed in his father's article.
Early life
Butler was brought up as a devout Catholic and was known as "Walter of the Beads" (
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
: ''"Váitéar an Phaidrín"'').
His father, John of Kilcash, died on 10 May 1570 when Walter was about eleven.
His brother James inherited but died unmarried sometime before September 1576 when Walter became the owner of the land around
Kilcash Castle
Kilcash Castle is a ruined castle off the N24 road just west of Ballydine in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is in the care of the Irish State. The Butler dynasty has important links to the area.
History
The main castle building is a fortifi ...
that had been his father's
appanage
An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...
.
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Butler worked closely with his uncle, the Earl of Ormond. As a reward for his military service with the earl, he was knighted by Adam Loftus and Robert Gardiner in 1598.
Marriage and children
About 1584 Butler married a second cousin, Helen Butler (also known as Ellen), eldest daughter of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret
Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret (c. 1562 – 1602), was the son of Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret and Eleanor Butler.Burke, John (1832). ''A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, ...
and his wife Grizel FitzPatrick. Their common great-grandfather was Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond
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 ...
.
Walter and Helen had two sons:
# Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (before 1596 – 1619) was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559 – 1633), whom he predeceased. He lived at the Westgate Castle in Thurles, County Tipperary. He was the father of ...
(1594–1619), married Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, daughter of Sir John Pointz
Sir John Pointz or Poyntz (died 1633) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1593. He is perhaps best remembered as the maternal grandfather of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond.
Life
Pointz was the son of S ...
, and had issue, including James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond
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 failure ...
# James, died young in France
—and nine daughters:
# Margaret, married Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 5th Baron Upper Ossory
Barnaby Fitzpatrick (Irish: Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig), 5th Baron Upper Ossory (died c. 1639–41) was the son and heir of Teige Fitzpatrick, 4th Baron Upper Ossory.
Family and life
Barnaby inherited the Barony of Upper Ossory from his father Te ...
# Catherine, married Piers Power of Monalargie, 2nd son of Richard Power, 2nd Baron Power of Curraghmore
# Ellen (died 1663), married Pierce Butler, 1st Viscount Ikerrin
Earl of Carrick, in the barony of Iffa and Offa East, County Tipperary, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland.
First creation
The title was first created in 1315 for Sir Edmund Butler, Justiciar of Ireland, by King Edward II. The title is linked ...
# Helena, married James Butler of Grellagh, 5th son of James Butler, 2nd Baron Dunboyne
# Joan, married 1st George Bagenal, 2ndly Theobald Purcell, and 3rdly Sir Thomas Esmond, 1st Baronet.
# Mary, married George Hamilton of Greenlaw and Roscrea
Sir George Hamilton of Greenlaw and Roscrea (died before 1657) was an undertaker in the Plantation of Ulster. Born and bred in Scotland, by 1611 he had moved to Ireland with his Scottish wife to occupy his plantation grant. In 1630 he married ...
# Elizabeth, married 1st Sir Edmond Blanchville and 2ndly Richard Burke, 6th Earl of Clanricarde
Richard Burke, 6th Earl of Clanricarde (; ; died August 1666) was an Irish peer.
Career
Richard was the eldest son of Sir William Burke and Joan O'Shaughnessy. He was a first cousin to the previous Earl and had served under him in the royali ...
# Eleanor (died 1633), died unmarried
# Ellis Butler (died 1625), who married Sir Terence O'Brien-Arragh, 1st Baronet of Arragh
Member of parliament
In 1613 the only Irish parliament of the reign of James I was called. On 13 April 1613 Butler was returned as member of the Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...
for Tipperary County. He was part of the resistance to government attempts to introduce anti-Catholic legislation.
11th Earl
His uncle, the 10th Earl died on 22 November 1614 leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, who had married Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond
Sir Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond (died 1628) was a favourite of King James VI and I of Scotland and England. In 1609 the king made him Lord Dingwall. In 1614 he married him to Elizabeth Butler, the only child of Black Tom, the 10th Ea ...
. Butler, his nephew, succeeded as the 11th Earl of Ormond and expected to also inherit the estates, but his claim to the family estates was challenged by Richard Preston, the husband of the 10th Earl's only child. The dispute was arbitrated by King James I, who awarded most of the estate, including Kilkenny Castle
Kilkenny Castle ( ga, Caisleán Chill Chainnigh, IPA: kaʃlʲaːnˠˈçiːl̪ʲˈxan̪ʲiː is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland built in 1195 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of N ...
, to Preston. Ormond spent much time and money in litigation in opposing the King's decision. His persistence resulted in him being committed to the Fleet prison in 1617. He remained incarcerated for eight years in great want with no rents reaching him from his estate. James meanwhile challenged his ownership of the county palatine
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. of Tipperary
Tipperary is the name of:
Places
*County Tipperary, a county in Ireland
**North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh
**South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel
*Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...
with a writ of quo warranto
In law, especially English and American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ requiring the person to whom it is directed to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or ...
(by what right?). This county had been vested in the head of the family for nearly four hundred years and could therefore under no circumstance have belonged to his cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Preston. No answer was made to the writ, if indeed an opportunity was afforded for an answer, and James took the county palatine into his own hands.
Ormond was freed in 1625 and large parts of his estates were restored to him. For some while he lived in a house in Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
, London, with his grandson James, afterwards Duke of Ormond. In 1629, on the projected marriage of his grandson with Elizabeth Preston, Preston's only child, Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...
granted her marriage and the wardship of her lands to him by letters patent dated 8 September. After the marriage he was recognised, on 9 October 1630, as heir to the lands of his uncle, Earl Thomas, as well as of Sir John Butler of Kilcash, his father.
Ormond also suffered problems within his own family. His son Thomas, styled viscount Thurles, married the daughter of Sir John Poyntz of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
against Walter's wish. Years later Thomas was accidentally drowned at The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey
The Skerries (Welsh: ''Ynysoedd y Moelrhoniaid'') () coming from the Old Norse word are a group of sparsely vegetated rocky islets ( skerries), with a total area of about lying offshore from Carmel Head at the northwest corner of Anglesey, ...
at the beginning of Walter's long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison. Viscount Thurles was a prominent Catholic and at the time of his death, was being sent to England on charges of having garrisoned Kilkenny
Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512.
Kilken ...
.
Death and timeline
Ormond died at Carrick-on-Suir
Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on the so ...
on 24 February 1633 and was buried in St. Canice's Cathedral
St Canice's Cathedral ( ga, Ardeaglais Naomh Cainneach, ), also known as Kilkenny Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Kilkenny city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Previously the cathedral of the Dio ...
, Kilkenny, on 18 June 1633. His eldest son having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his grandson, James Butler, later the 1st Duke of Ormond.
Notes and references
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
* – N to R (for Ormond)
* – Scotland and Ireland
*
*
* — Google Books no preview
* – Contains "The Unkinde Desertor of Loyall Men and True Frinds"
* – (for timeline)
*
*
* – Viscounts (for Butler, Viscount Mountgarrett)
* – Knights bachelors & Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, Walter Butler, 11th Earl of
Ormonde, Walter Butler, 11th Earl of
Ormonde, Walter Butler, 11th Earl of
16th-century Anglo-Irish people
17th-century Anglo-Irish people
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
Earls of Ormond (Ireland)
Inmates of Fleet Prison
Irish expatriates in Austria-Hungary
Irish MPs 1613–1615
Irish people of the Thirty Years' War
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tipperary constituencies