Richard Butler (1395 - abt. 1443)

Born 1395 in Knocktopher Castle, County Wicklow, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 1443 at about age 48 in Paulstown, County Kilkenny, Ireland

Note: The Polestown branch of the Butlers were often referred to as "of Polestown" in documents of the time period. This designation remains in the nickname field above so as to avoid confusion with the numerous other Butler branches (Cahir, Dunboyne, Ormond, Grallagh, etc.)

Biography

Sir Richard Butler is famous as the patriarch of the Polestown Butlers, a designation which this branch used for many generations following. Today the main town of their territory is referred to as Paulstown, County Kilkenny.

Sir Richard was a younger son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, and Anne Welles. His elder brother was James, 4th Earl of Ormond, commonly known as "the White Earl".

Sir Richard married Catherine, a daughter of Gildas O’Reilly, Lord of East Breifne.

Children

Their most famous son was Sir Edmund MacRichard Butler, "The MacRichard of Ossory", who -- as deputy for the 4th Earl of Ormond (the "White Earl") during his absence -- waged war with their mutual Butler cousin Piers, Lord of Cahir as well as the FitzPatricks of Ossory.

Besides Edmund, Richard had at least one other son^[1] and 3 daughters -- who married into the Kavanagh, Le Poer, and O'Carroll families.

Another son, Richard (born ca.1420s)^[2] married Reynalda O'Brien, daughter of Turlogh "Bog" (the Brown) O'Brien, King of Thomond.^[3] Reynalda had been the mistress of Richard's 1st cousin John, 6th Earl of Ormond, until John went in exile^[4] in Portugal and France from 1464-1470.^[5][6]

A great-grandson, Piers Butler, became the 8th Earl of Ormond and married the formidable Margaret FitzGerald, daughter of the 8th Earl of Kildare.

From "How Waterford Won its Civic Sword: The Battle of Ballymacaw":^[7]

• The Power [le Poer] family had become increasingly Gaelicised in the 14th and 15th centuries and had virtually monopolised the office of Sheriff of Waterford County, thereby controlling much of the hinterland on which the city depended for its livelihood. Their leader in 1460 was Richard fitz David Rothe Power^[8] (d.1483) of Curraghmore, who was married to Eleane,^[9] the sister of Edmund MacRichard Butler, first cousin of James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire. James Butler's sister Elizabeth was married to John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, who was also the Earl of Waterford.

Research Notes

Two interesting but unsourced facts from Wikipedia (verbatim) which need further verification:

• "Richard was born at Kilkenny Castle and was named in honour of the visiting King Richard II, who had joined his [3rd] cousin, James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, to campaign against the Irish."^[10]
• "His godfather was King Richard II of England"^[11]

Lead for further exploration. A Butler family blog (some sources) records 4 sons for Richard -- Edmond, Edward, Walter, John:

• http://butlerancestryireland.blogspot.com/2014/04/ancestry-of-butlers-of-wexford-ch20.html

Find A Grave records Sir Richard's tomb at St Mary Church of Ireland Churchyard: "Built in the late 12th century as a chapel for the then newly constructed Kilkenny Castle. The final service took place in 1951, before the church was deconsecrated in 1957. It has been converted into a modern museum."

• https://findagrave.com/memorial/155751489/richard_of_polestown_-butler
• https://findagrave.com/cemetery/2249330/saint-marys-hall-cemetery

Family murder -- "Richard of Buolick" was the son of Edmund MacRichard Butler (the famous "MacRichard of Ossory") and the grandson of Sir Richard Butler of Polestown. Therefore, his son Thomas appears to have been slain (1489) by his uncle John (brother of Richard of Buolick):^[12]

• 1489: "Thomas Butler, namely, son of Richard of Bualecc [Buolick], was slain by John, son of Edmond, son of Richard Butler, this year."

Sources

1. ↑ Carrigan mentions "Richard Butler's sons" in the context of the 1443 murder of Finghin MacGillaPatrick, Lord of Ossory -- who was the father of Sean (John) MacGillaPatrick and the grandfather of Brian FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory.
   • Carrigan, Vol.1, p.75:
     • https://archive.org/details/historyandantiq02carrgoog/page/n119/mode/1up
2. ↑ 1448: "Richard Butler [son of Sir Richard Butler of Polestown] gave a great defeat to Walter Tobin, and to [Richard's cousin, Lord of Cahir] Piers fitz James Gallda, wherin many of the hired souldiers of Munster were killed."
   • Excerpted from MacFirbis' The Annals of Ireland, from the Year 1443 to 1468, with the English modernised:
     • The miscellany of the Irish Archaeological Society, Vol.1, published 1846 by the Irish Archaeological Society, p.220:
       • https://archive.org/details/miscellanyofiris01irisuoft/page/200/mode/2up
3. ↑ Turlogh O'Brien ruled as King of Thomond from 1446 until his death in 1459. Here is the full chronological list of Kings of Thomond.
4. ↑ See John's Wikitree profile, and also the summary of his life in the Dictionary of Irish Biography.
5. ↑ John and Reynalda had at least 3 illegitimate sons, the oldest of whom was Sir James Ormond ("Black James"), killed in 1497 by his distant cousin Piers Butler, future 8th Earl of Ormond. Their common ancestor was James, 3rd Earl of Ormond.
6. ↑ The marriage of Richard and Reynalda is mentioned in David Beresford's profile of Sir James Ormond in the Dictionary of Irish Biography -- which also implies that James (ca.1462-1497) "went with his mother to be raised among kinsmen" [late 1460s] and thus likely grew up with his Polestown cousins. James later became the protégé of his uncle Thomas, 7th Earl of Ormond, while both were living in England.
   • https://www.dib.ie/biography/butler-james-sir-james-ormond-black-james-a1262
7. ↑ Randolph Jones, "How Waterford Won its Civic Sword: The Battle of Ballymacaw", 5th annual Dr. Niall Byrne memorial lecture, held at the Medieval Museum in Waterford on 4 November 2016.
   • https://www.academia.edu/35007211
8. ↑ Discrepancy: The Peerage shows Richard as son of Nicholas and grandson of David Rothe Power.
9. ↑ Discrepancy: The Peerage shows Elane as daughter (not sister) of Edmund MacRichard Butler.
10. ↑ Wikipedia: Sir Richard Butler of Polestown
11. ↑ Wikipedia: James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond
12. ↑ The Annals of Ulster, Vol.3, covering AD 1379–1588:
    • https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100001C/

• Wikipedia : Sir Richard Butler of Polestown

• Some interesting context on the conflict among the various Butler branches in the 1400s and early 1500s -- including the Dunboynes, the Polestowns, and the Cahirs:
  • C. A. Empey and Katharine Simms, "The Ordinances of the White Earl and the Problem of Coign in the Later Middle Ages", Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Vol. 75 (1975), pp.161-187:
    • https://www.jstor.org/stable/25506307

• Brief history & modern photos of medieval tower (13th century) & church in Knocktopher:
  • http://www.megalithicireland.com/Knocktopher.html

• WikiTree profile Butler-1681 created through the import of FISCUS Family Tree.ged on Jun 6, 2011 by Liisa Small.