Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles

Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (before 1596 – 15 December 1619) was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559 – 1633), whom he predeceased, and Helen Butler. He resided at Thurles Castle, Thurles, County Tipperary. He was the father of the noted Anglo-Irish statesman and Royalist commander James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.

Thomas Butler
Viscount Thurles (courtesy title)
Died15 December 1619
at sea off the coast of The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey
FamilyButler dynasty
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Poyntz
Issue
James, Richard, & others
FatherWalter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond
MotherHelen Butler

Birth and origins

Thomas was born the eldest son of Walter Butler and his wife Helen Butler. His father was the 11th Earl of Ormond. His mother was the eldest daughter of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and his wife Grizel FitzPatrick.[1][2] His father and mother were cousins. Their common great-grandfather was Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond. Their family, the Butler Dynasty, was Old English and descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177.[3]

Family tree
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.
John of
Kilcash
d. 1570		Katherine
MacCarthy
Walter
11th Earl
1559 – 1632/3
'Beads'		Helen
Butler
d. 1631
Thomas
Viscount
Thurles
bef. 1596 –
1619		Elizabeth
Pointz
1587–1673
James
1st Duke
1610–1688		Elizabeth
Preston
1615–1684		Richard
of
Kilcash
1615–1701		Frances
Tuchet
Thomas
6th Earl
Ossory
1633–1680		Emilia
von
Nassau
1635–1688		Walter
of
Garryricken
d. 1700		Mary
Plunkett
James
2nd Duke
1665–1745		Charles
1st Earl
Arran
1671–1758		Thomas
of
Garryricken
d. 1738		John
Butler
John
de jure
15th Earl
d. 1766
Walter
de jure
16th Earl
d. 1783
Ellen
Morres
d. 1794
Legend
XXXThomas
Butler		XXXEarls & dukes of
Ormond
This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne.[4] Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.

Marriage and children

Sometime before 1610, he married Elizabeth Poyntz against his father's wishes. She was the daughter of Sir John Poyntz (d.1633) of Iron Acton in Gloucestershire and Elizabeth Sydenham. They had six children:

  1. James (1610–1688), became the 1st Duke of Ormond;[5]
  2. John (died 1636), died unmarried in Naples on his travels;[6]
  3. Eleanor (1612–1682), married Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty;[7]
  4. Richard (1615–1701), was confirmed as owner of lands of Kilcash, Garryricken and many others in the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny by the Commission of Grace in 1639;[8]
  5. Elizabeth (died 1675), married James Purcell, titular Baron of Loughmoe;[9]
  6. Mary (died 1680), married Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet, of Donalong.[10]

Death and succession

In 1619 after the beginning of his father's long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison, Thomas was summoned to England to answer charges of treason, specifically, of having garrisoned Kilkenny. However, the ship conveying him was wrecked off the coast of The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey and he was drowned. Like his father, Thurles was a prominent Catholic and it seems likely that his refusal to conform to the established Anglican religion had angered King James I, and may have been the true motive for his summons.

He predeceased his father who died in 1634. His son James, the future 1st Duke of Ormond, then succeeded him as the bearer of the courtesy title Viscount Thurles until he became the 12th Earl of Ormond.

Notes
  1. Edwards 2004, p. 231, left column, line 7: "About 1584 he married Ellen (d. 1631) daughter of Edmund Butler, second Viscount Mountgarrett ..."
  2. Lodge 1789, p. 38, line 27: "He [Walter] married Hellena, eldest daughter of Edmond, the second Viscount Mountgarret ... having issue by her (who died 28 January 1631 ..."
  3. Debrett 1828, p. 640: "THEOBALD LE BOTELER on whom that office [Chief Butler of Ireland] was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
  4. Dunboyne 1968, pp. 16–17: "Butler Family Tree condensed"
  5. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 27: "James, successor to his grandfather, created Duke of Ormond, one of the ablest statesmen, and worthiest person of the age in which he flourished."
  6. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 30: "John who died unmarried at Naples, on his travels, in 1636."
  7. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 33: "Daughter Ellen, married to Donogh, Earl of Clancarthy, and dying in April 1682, AEt. 70, was buried 24 in the Chancel of St. Michan's church."
  8. Lodge 1789, p. 40: "Richard Butler of Kilcash, Esq.; the youngest son, had a confirmation (by virtue of the commission of grace) 24 June 1639, of the lands of Kilcash, Garryricken, and many others in the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny; with a limitation thereof to his heirs male; remainder to the respective heirs male of Walter Earl of Ormond; Pierce Butler Fitz-Walter ..."
  9. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 36: "Elizabeth, first married to James Purcell, Esq.; titular baron of Loughmoe, by whom she had one son Nicholas, and two daughters; ..."
  10. Lodge 1789, p. 40, line 14: "Mary, married to Sir George Hamilton, ancestor by her to the Earl of Abercorn, and died in August 1680."

References
  • Debrett, John (1828), Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 2 (17th ed.), London: F. C. and J. Rivington – Scotland and Ireland
  • Dunboyne, Patrick Theobald Tower Butler, Baron (1968), Butler Family History (2nd ed.), Kilkenny: Rothe House
  • Edwards, David (2004), "Butler, Walter, eleventh earl of Ormond and fourth Earl of Ossory (1559–1633)", in Matthew, Henry Colin Gray.; Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 9, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 230–231, ISBN 0-19-861359-8
  • Lodge, John (1789), The Peerage of Ireland, 4, Dublin: James Moore – Viscounts (for Butler, Viscount Mountgarrett)
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