Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond

For other people named Walter Butler, see Walter Butler (disambiguation).

Walter Butler
Earl of Ormond
Reign	1614–1633
Predecessor	Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond
Successor	James, 1st Duke of Ormond
Born	1559
Died	24 February 1633 Carrick-on-Suir
Buried	St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny
Family	Butler dynasty
Spouse(s)	Helen Butler
Issue Detail	Thomas & others
Father	John Butler of Kilcash
Mother	Katherine MacCarthy

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 intervened and awarded half of the inheritance to his uncle's Protestant daughter Elizabeth. Lord Ormond contested the King's decision and was for that imprisoned 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, 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 and his wife Katherine MacCarty. His father was a younger son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond. His father's 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. His mother was a daughter of Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, a Gaelic Irish family. His parents were both Catholic.

Family tree

Walter Butler, 11th Earl, with wife, parents, and other selected relatives. Piers 8th Earl 1467–1539 Margaret FitzGerald 1473–1542 James 9th Earl 1496–1546 Joan FitzGerald d. 1565 Richard 1st Viscount MountGarrett 1500–1571 Thomas 10th Earl c. 1531 – 1614 Elizabeth Sheffield John of Kilcash d. 1570 Katherine MacCarthy Edmund 2nd Viscount MountGarrett d. 1602 Theobald Viscount Tulleophelim d. 1613 Elizabeth Butler c. 1585 – 1628 Richard Preston 1st Earl Desmond d. 1628) Walter 11th Earl 1559–1633 'Beads' Helen Butler d. 1631 Thomas Viscount Thurles bef. 1596 – 1619 Elizabeth Pointz 1587–1673 Elizabeth Preston 1615–1684 James 1st Duke 1610–1688 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 XXX Walter Butler XXX Earls & dukes of Ormond This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne. Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.

Walter was the younger of two brothers:

1. James Butler, died before September 1576;
2. Walter (1559–1633).

Walter's sisters
Eleanor, married Thomas Prendergast and whose son James Prendergast was killed in 1627 by Edmond Butler, 3rd/13th Baron Dunboyne; Joan, married Sir Oliver Shortall, knight.

Early life

He was brought up as a devout Catholic and was known as "Walter of the Beads" (Irish: "Váitéar an Phaidrín").

On 10 May 1570 his father, John of Kilcash died when Walter was about eleven. His brother James inherited but died unmarried sometime before September 1576 when Walter had become the owner of the land around Kilcash Castle that had been his father's.

He worked closely with his uncle, the Earl of Ormonde. As a reward for his military service with the earl he was knighted by Elizabeth I in 1598.

Marriage and children

About 1584 Walter Butler married his second cousin, Helen Butler (also known as Ellen), eldest daughter of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and his wife Grizel FitzPatrick. Their common great-grandfather was Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond.

Walter and Helen had twelve children, three boys:

1. Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (1594–1619), married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Pointz, Knt. and had issue, including James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond;
2. James, died young in England;
3. John, died in France without issue.

—and nine girls:

1. Margaret, married Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 5th Baron Upper Ossory;
2. Catherine, married Piers Power;
3. Ellen (died 1663), married Pierce Butler, 1st Viscount Ikerrin;
4. Helena, married James Butler of Dunboyne;
5. Joan, married George Bagenal;
6. Mary, died unmarried;
7. Elizabeth, married first Sir Edmond Blanchville and secondly Richard Burke, 6th Earl of Clanricarde;
8. Eleanor (died 1633), died unmarried; and
9. Ellis Butler (died 1625), who married Sir Terence O'Brien-Arragh, 1st Baronet of Arragh.

Member of parliament

On 13 April 1613 Walter Butler was returned as member of the Irish House of Commons for Tipperary County. He was part of the resistance of government attempts to introduce anti-Catholic legislation.

Ormond succession

His uncle, the 10th Earl died on 22 November 1614 leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth, who had married Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond. Sir Walter Butler, his nephew, succeeded him as the 11th Earl of Ormond. Lord Ormond, as he was now, expected to also inherit the estates, but his claim to the family estates was challenged by Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond, the husband of Elizabeth, the 10th Earl's only child. The dispute was arbitrated by King James I of England, who awarded most of the estate, including Kilkenny Castle, 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 brought a writ of quo warranto against him for the county palatine of Tipperary, which had been vested in the head of the family for nearly four hundred years, and which could not therefore under any circumstances 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 answer, and James took the county palatine into his own hands.

Earl Walter was set at liberty in 1625 and a large part of his estates restored to him. For some while he lived in a house in Drury Lane, London, with his grandson James, afterwards Duke of Ormonde. In 1629, on the projected marriage of his grandson and Elizabeth Preston, Charles I of England granted her marriage and the wardship of her lands to him by letters patent dated 8 Sept. After the marriage he was recognised, 9 Oct. 1630, as heir to the lands of his uncle, Earl Thomas, as well as of Sir John Butler his father. Walter also suffered problems within his own family. His son Thomas, Viscount Thurles, married the daughter of Sir John Poyntz of Gloucestershire against Walter's wish, and years later, he was accidentally drowned at The Skerries, Isle 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.

Death and timeline

He died at Carrick-on-Suir on 24 February 1633 and was buried in St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, on 18 June 1633. His eldest son having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his grandson, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.

Timeline
Age	Date	Event
0	1559	Born.
10–11	1570, 10 May	His father died.
16–17	1576, before Sep	Elder brother James died.
24–25	1584, about	Marries.
53–54	1613, 13 Apr	He was returned as one of two MPs for Tipperary County.
54–55	1614, 22 Nov	His uncle the 10th earl dies.
57–58	1617	Detained in Fleet Prison.
65–66	1625, 18 Mar	Submits to the King's decision.
65–66	1625, 27 Mar	Accession of King Charles I, replacing King James I.
68–69	1628, 10 Oct	His cousin Elizabeth Butler, Countess of Desmond died.
68–69	1628, 28 Oct	Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond drowned.
69–70	1629, 25 Dec	His grandson James married Elizabeth Preston.
71–72	1631, 28 Jan	His mother died.
73–74	1633, 24 Feb	Died in Carrick-on-Suir.

References

• Airy, Osmund (1886), "Butler, Walter, of Kilcash, eleventh Earl of Ormonde (1569–1633)", in Lee, Sidney (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 8, New York: MacMillan and Co., p. 86
• Burke, Bernard (1869), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (31st ed.), London: Harrison (for his sisters)
• Burke, Bernard (1949), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (99th ed.), London: Burke's Peerage Ltd.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1895), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, vol. 6 (1st ed.), London: George Bell and Sons – N to R (for Ormond)
• Debrett, John (1828), Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 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{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• 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, vol. 9, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 230–231, ISBN 0-19-861359-8
• Flood, John (2020), Kilcash and the Butlers of Ormond: Conflict and Kinship from the Middle Ages to the Great Famine, Dublin: Geography Publications, ISBN 9780906602942
• French, Rev. Nicholas (1846) [1676], The Historical Works of the Right Rev. Nicholas French, vol. 2, Dublin: James Duffy. – Contains “The Unkinde Desertor of Loyall Men and True Frinds”
• House of Commons (1878), Return. Members of Parliament – Part II. Parliaments of Great Britain, 1705–1796. Parliaments of the United Kingdom, 1801–1874. Parliaments and Conventions of the Estates of Scotland, 1357–1707. Parliaments of Ireland, 1599–1800., London: H. M. Stationery Office
• Lodge, John (1789a), The Peerage of Ireland, vol. 4, Dublin: James Moore – Viscounts (for "Butler, Viscount Mountgarrett" — Ormond)
• Lodge, John (1789b), The Peerage of Ireland, vol. 6, Dublin: James Moore – Viscounts, barons (for "Butler, Lord Cahier" — Dunboyne)
• Smyth, Constantine (1839), Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland, London: Henry Butterworth (for Table of reigns)