Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond

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).[1] 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.[1]

During the prolonged absence from Ireland of the earls, his father Sir James Butler (d. 1487)[2] 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.

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:

• James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond (1496–1546), also called "the lame", who married Lady Joan FitzGerald, daughter and heiress of James FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Desmond, and had issue.
• Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret (1500 – 20 May 1571), married his first cousin Eleanor Butler, daughter of his uncle Theobald Butler. They had issue.
• Thomas Butler, who was slain by Dermoid Mac Shane, MacGillaPatrick of Upper Ossory, and left an only daughter Margaret, who was first married to Rory O'Moore of Laois and secondly to Sir Maurice Fitzgerald of Lackagh.

Daughters:

• Margaret Butler, married firstly to Thomas, second son of the Earl of Desmond, and secondly to Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory and had issue.[6]
• Catherine Butler {1506–1552/53} married Richard Lord Le Poer; parents of Lord John Le Poer-husband of Ellen, daughter of James 14th Earl of Desmond.
• Joan Butler (born 1528), married James Butler, 10th Baron Dunboyne.
• Ellice Butler (1481–1530). Married firstly to MacMorrish; and secondly in 1503 to Gerald Fitzgerald, 3rd Lord Decies (1482–1533), grandson of James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond.
• Eleanor Butler, who married Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Cahir.
• Helen Butler (1523–1597), (or Ellen) married Donough O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Thomond, son of Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond and Annabell de Burgh.

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

• Butler dynasty
• Ashfield Gales

• Dunboyne, Patrick Theobald Tower Butler, Baron (1968), Butler Family History (2nd ed.), Kilkenny: Rothe House
• Edwards, David (2003), The Ormond Lordship in County Kilkenny, Dublin: Four Courts Press, ISBN 9781851825783 – Snippet view
• Ellis, Steven G. (2014), Ireland in the Age of the Tudors, Abingdon: Routledge, ISBN 9781317901433