Butler dynasty

The Lordship of Ireland in 1450
Norman Lordships and native kingdoms.

The family seat, since 1391, was Kilkenny Castle;[2] their main estate was previously at Gowran Castle.[3] From Kilkenny, the Butlers claimed overlordship of the surrounding Gaelic kingdoms of Ormond, Éile, Ikerrin and part of Osraige.

The patrimony of the Butlers of Ormond encompassed most of the modern counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny and parts of County Carlow. Only the earldom of Desmond would have had more extensive land holdings than Ormond in the Lordship and Kingdom of Ireland. Following the successful Norman Invasion, the ancient Gaelic lands would have been annexed to the crown and passed as baronies or fiefs to the supporters of the crown (the victorious barons). These (administrative) baronies corresponded to the (Irish) túath ("country") or trícha cét ("thirty hundred [men]") of a Gaelic chief, for example Éile. However, sometimes baronies combined small territories, or split a large one, or were created without regard for the earlier boundaries. In the Norman period most Gaelic chiefs were killed, expelled, or subordinated by the new Norman lord; in the Tudor period, many Gaelic and Hibernicized lords retained their land by pledging allegiance to the Crown under the policy of surrender and regrant.

In 1837, the remains of the following Butler castles were recorded in County Kilkenny alone by Lewis.

"Granny or Grandison Castle, in Iverk, is one of the most considerable: it was the residence of Margaret Fitzgerald, the great Countess of Ormond, a lady of uncommon talents and qualifications, who is said also to have built the castles of Balleen and Coolkill, with several others of minor note. The Butlers owned the castles of Knocktopher, Gowran, Dunfert, Poolestown, Nehorn, Callan, Ballycallan, Damagh, Kilmanagh, and Urlingford..... The castles of Drumroe, Barrowmount, and Low Grange, are said to have belonged to Lord Galmoy;"[4]

Members of the Butler family continued to live in Kilkenny Castle until 1935.

• Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland (died 1206) married Maud de Vavasour; they had three children
• Theobald le Botiller, 2nd Chief Butler of Ireland (died 1230) married Joan de Marais
• Theobald Butler, 3rd Chief Butler of Ireland (1224–1248) married Margaret de Burgh; they had four children
• Theobald Butler, 4th Chief Butler of Ireland (1242–1285) married Joan FitzJohn FitzGeoffrey; they had three children
• Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick (1270–1321) married Joan FitzGerald, Countess of Carrick; they had two children
• James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond (1305–1338) married Eleanor de Bohun; they had six children
• James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond (1331–1382) married Elizabeth Darcy; they had five children
• James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond (died 1405) married Anne Welles; they had five children
• James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (1392–1452) married Joan de Beauchamp; they had three children
• James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond (1420–1461)
• John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond (died 1478)
• Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond (1426–1515) married Anne Hankford

• Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Dunboyne (1271–1329)
• John Butler, 12th Baron Dunboyne (1731 – May 7 1800)

• Pierce Butler, 4th Viscount Ikerrin (1679–1711). He married twice. First to the Hon. Alicia Boyle then to Olivia St. George
• Thomas Butler, 6th Viscount Ikerrin (1683–1720). He married Margaret Hamilton. They had one child. He was born in Kilkenny, Ireland.
• Somerset Hamilton Butler, 1st Earl of Carrick (1718–1774). He married Lady Juliana Boyle. They had one child. The 8th Viscount was created Earl of Carrick – the second time that an earldom of that name was created for the Butler family. The first creation was for Edmund Butler, Earl of Carrick.
• Henry Butler, 2nd Earl of Carrick (1746–1813). He married Sarah Taylor. They had two children. He died in Kilkenny, Ireland.
• Somerset Butler, 3rd Earl of Carrick (1779–1838), brother of the Hon. Henry Edward Butler (1780–1856) he married twice and had five children
• Gina Fratini (Georgina Butler, 1931–2017), the English fashion designer, was the granddaughter of Charles Butler, 7th Earl of Carrick

• Thomas Butler of Cahir (died 1476)

• Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Cahir (died 1558), son of Thomas Butler of Cahir. His brother Piers Butler would later supply future barons when his own line failed to produce any other male heirs upon the death of his own son.
• Edmund Butler, 2nd Baron Cahir (died 1560)

• Theobald Butler, 1st Baron Cahir (died 1596), son of Piers Butler and nephew of the 1st Baron.
• Thomas Butler, 2nd Baron Cahir (died 1627), son of the 1st Baron. Died without a male heir.
• Thomas Butler, 3rd Baron Cahir, son of Piers Butler, nephew of the 2nd Baron and grandson of the 1st Baron.

• Sir Richard Butler of Polestown (1395–1443)
• Walter Butler of Polestown (died 1483)
• Sir Richard Butler (Poletown) (died 1619)
• Edmond Butler of Polestown (died 1636)
• Peter Butler of Roscrea
• Walter Butler of Roscrea

Mountgarret may take its name from the townland of Tifeaghna (Mount Garret) in the civil parish of Sheefin, in the barony of Galmoy or from Clomantagh (Mount Garret) in the civil parish of Clomantagh in the County of Crannagh. Both baronies are in the northwestern corner of County Kilkenny. The Viscounts are recorded as significant landowners there (where they occupied lands around Clomantagh Castle for many centuries), as well as holding lands in the neighbouring civil parish of Coolcashin.[5] It may also refer to a district of the town of New Ross in County Wexford. This branch was in turn an offshoot of the Polestown branch.

• Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret (1500–1571)
• Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret (died 1602)
• Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret (1578–1651)
• Edmund Butler, 4th Viscount Mountgarret (1595–1679)
• Edmund Butler, 10th Viscount Mountgarret (died 1752)
• Edmund Butler, 11th Viscount Mountgarret (1745–1793)
• Edmund Butler, 1st Earl of Kilkenny (1771–1846)
• Henry Butler, 13th Viscount Mountgarret (1816–1900)
• Henry Butler, 14th Viscount Mountgarret (1844–1912)
• Edmund Butler, 15th Viscount Mountgarret (1875–1918)
• Piers Butler, 16th Viscount Mountgarret (1903–1957)
• Richard Butler, 17th Viscount Mountgarret (1936–2004)
• Piers Butler, 18th Viscount Mountgarret (born 1961)

The second son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond was Sir Edmund Butler of Cloughgrenan who occupied lands at Cloughgrenan (a townland near Carlow town). Tulleophelim (or Tullowphelim) is near the town of Tullow in County Carlow. The castle of Tulleophlim had been built by James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond before 1450.

• Sir Edmund Butler of Cloughgrenan (c. 1531 – 1602),
• Theobald Butler, Viscount Butler of Tulleophelim, a son of Sir Edmund.
• Sir Thomas Butler of Cloughgrenan, 1st Baronet, illegitimate son of Sir Edmund.
• Sir Edmund Butler of Cloughgrenan, 2nd Baronet, son of 1st Baronet.

The third son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, was John who occupied lands in Kilcash, near Clonmel, County Tipperary. His heirs went on to provide four immediate heirs to the earldom of Ormond when the senior line failed through lack of legitimate male issue.

• John Butler of Kilcash
• Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond, son of John and the first member of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom when the senior branch failed to leave legitimate male issue.
• Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, son of the 11th Earl who predeceased his father.
• James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, heir of Thomas, grandson of the 11th earl.
• Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, son of the 1st Duke who predeceased his father.
• James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, son of the 6th Earl of Ossory and grandson of the 1st Duke.
• Charles Butler, 3rd Duke of Ormonde, younger son of the 6th Earl of Ossory.
• Richard Butler of Kilcash, son of Viscount Thurles and younger brother of James, the 1st Duke.

This branch is an offshoot of the Kilcash branch. Garryricken is a townland in the barony of Kells, County Kilkenny.

• Walter Butler of Garryricken, eldest son of Richard Butler of Kilcash, great-grandson of the 11th Earl.
• Colonel Thomas Butler of Garryricken, eldest son of Walter.
• John Butler, 15th Earl of Ormonde, son of Colonel Thomas, great-grand-nephew of the 1st Duke. He succeeded to the earldom (but not the dukedom) when the last member of senior Kilcash line, Charles, failed to produce a legitimate male heir.
• John Butler of Garryricken, second son of Walter and brother of Colonel Thomas, grand-nephew of the 1st Duke.
• Walter Butler, 16th Earl of Ormonde, son of John, great-great-great-grandson of the 11th Earl and the first cousin of the 15th Earl.

Duiske takes its name from Duiske Abbey in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. Galmoy is a village in the Barony of Galmoy, northwestern Kilkenny. This branch also sprang from the 9th Earl. His younger son was James Butler of Duiske.

• James Butler of Duiske was awarded the Abbey lands upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries following the English Reformation. The lands eventually reverted to his uncle Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond.
• Piers FitzThomas Butler of Duiske, who was the illegitimate son of the 10th Earl.
• Edward Butler, 1st Viscount Galmoye, who was the son of Piers FitzThomas Butler.
• Piers Butler of Duiske, who was the eldest son of the 1st Viscount.
• Edward Butler, 2nd Viscount Galmoye, who was the grandson of the 1st Viscount.
• Piers Butler, 3rd Viscount Galmoye, who was the eldest son of the 2nd Viscount. He was attainted and had no living male heirs.
• Richard Butler of Galmoye, who was the second son of the 2nd Viscount.
• James Butler of the Irish Brigade in France was son of Richard Butler of Galmoye and the grandson of the 2nd Viscount.
• Edmond Butler of Killoshulan, who was the brother of the 2nd Viscount.