Walter Butler (abt. 1535 - 1560)

Born about 1535 in Ballynenoddagh, Ardmayle, Tipperary, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1560 at about age 25 in Ballynodagh, County Kilkenny, Ireland

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Note: The nickname "of Nodstown" (and its variations, including Ballynenoddagh) is an integral part of his name, and that of his male descendants. They were nearly always referred to as such, in order to distinguish them from the numerous other Butler branches (Cahir, Dunboyne, Boytonrath, Polestown, etc).

Note: Not to be confused with 1) his great-grandson Col. Walter Butler (ca.1611-ca.1660) -- who was active in the Irish rebellion of the 1640s -- nor with 2) his nephew Walter Butler (1559-1633), 11th Earl of Ormond.

Biography

Walter Butler is Notable.

Walter was the 4th son of James, 9th Earl of Ormond, which would place his birth year as ca.1535, after his 3 elder brothers. Given the fact that children of the Irish ruling classes tended to be placed into strategic marriages at a young age (often as teenagers), this would give Walter time to have at least 3 children before his oft-reported death year of 1560, of causes unspecified.^[1]

Walter's father was James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond (1496-1546), who was poisoned along with many of his staff at Ely House, London, where he died in 1546.^[2] Walter's elder brother Thomas, age 14, became 10th Earl of Ormond until his death at age 82 in 1614. Thomas was therefore the Earl of Ormond who held the title the longest.

Walter, also known as "Walter Butler of Moyaliff",^[3] was married to his first cousin once-removed Eillane Morres, daughter of Edmond Morres^[4] and Anne MacBrien O'Gonagh (Counagh).^[5] Their children were:

• Pierce Butler of Nodstown. He was 2 years old at the time of his father's death. Pierce married Ellen, daughter of Thomas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe, and Joanna FitzPatrick. They had at least 2 sons and 5 daughters. Pierce died in 1627 and was buried in nearby Holy Cross Abbey, as were many of his wife's ancestors.

• Joan Butler, who married John O'Dwyer^[6] of Dundrum, County Tipperary (who died in January 1627). They had eldest son Col. Philip O'Dwyer, and other sons & daughters.^[7]
  • Eldest son Philip, a noted rebel leader in the 1640s, married Gyles Magrath, daughter of Myler Magrath, "the notorious" Archbishop of Cashell,^[8][9][10] and their children were Connor, Donogh, Margaret, Winifred.
  • Another son Donough was commander of Tipperary in the Irish rebellion of 1641-52 and was executed in 1652. See the profile of his cousin Col. Walter Butler (ca.1611-ca.1662) for details.^[11][12]

• Ellice or Elizabeth Butler, who married a series of 3 knights loyal to the English crown:
  • 1) John Sherlock^[13] of Mothel, County Waterford (with issue)
  • 2) Sir Edward Gough (with issue)
  • 3) Sir Laurence Esmonde^[14] (no issue)

From The Butlers of Duiske Abbey, by Rev. James Hughes, p.64:^[15]

• By his will,^[16] James, 9th Earl of Ormond, gave to his son and heir, Thomas, "the principals of all his goods and cattails," like as he had of the lord his father.

• To each of his other sons, of whom there were six, namely, Sir Edmond, of the Dullough; John, of Kilcash; Walter, James, Edward, and Piers, he bequeathed lands to the amount of £400 yearly. [James] and his brothers, John and Walter, are the least known of the sons of the ninth Earl, as they died long before their brethren.

• The other sons, Thomas, 10th Earl, called "Duff," from his black complexion, Sir Edmond, Edward, and Piers, took no inconsiderable part in Irish affairs during the reign of Elizabeth.

Walter is mentioned in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds, Vol. 5:

• 1551-52: Walter is in possession of Shanballyduff, in the parish of Moyaliff, barony of Upper Kilmanagh, Co. Kilkenny, from his late father James. Walter (still a minor) leased out the lands for a term of 14 years, in the presence of John Grace and Edmund Blanchvile.^[17]

Walter is mentioned in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds, Vol. 4:^[18]

• 24 Oct 1562: Walter Butler of Ballynenoddagh requests an "inspeximus" of his father's will, specifically the feoffment of lands concerning the manors of Ballytarsny and Moyaliff, Co. Tipperary, near Thurles.^[19] On the same date, Walter's elder brother John requests an inspeximus regarding the manors of Kilcash.

Verbatim from "The Descendants of James, 9th Earl of Ormond":^[20]

• Walter of Ballynoddagh, or Nodstown, does not appear to figure at all in the Calendars of State Papers. [English historian Thomas] Carte gives him a son, Piers of Moyally, who had a son James. According to Carte, his [male] descendants were extinct in the time of Charles II.^[21]

"Walter Butler of Nodstown ... [his son] Pierce had a son, James, who died in 1633, leaving 10 sons, one of the younger of whom is said to have settled in America."^[22][23]

Sources

• Wikipedia: Walter Butler of Nodstown

• Nodstown on the Tipperary map, midway between Holy Cross and Cashel:
  • https://www.logainm.ie/en/47816

• Nodstown Castle, County Tipperary, is in the countryside about halfway between Cashel and Thurles. Here are 2 photos from the website "Irish Castles":
  • https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3037808
  • https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3037812

• The rather atypical ruin, the "Ardmayle stronghouse", County Tipperary, is just south of Nodstown. Here are 7 photos from the website "Irish Castles":
  • https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5448042

• The Butler family of Lebanon, Connecticut : Published by The Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, (1934), p.12

1. ↑ Walter died at his house in Ballynenoddagh (Nodstown) and was buried in Kilkenny, according to historian Thomas Carte (1686-1754), quoting Sir Robert Rothe, trusted legal advisor to Thomas, Earl of Ormond, for 40 years, and assiduous compiler of Butler family history. Rothe was 3rd cousin to the Earl via their common ancestor Edmund MacRichard Butler (1420-1487).
   • Thomas Carte, The Life of James, Duke of Ormond, Vol.1 (Oxford University Press, 1851), See Introduction, page xcvi:
     • https://archive.org/details/lifeofjamesdukeo01cartuoft/page/n107/mode/2up
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Butler%2C_9th_Earl_of_Ormond
3. ↑ He was also known as Walter Butler of Moyalish, and was styled Mac-Kiliny [which could be referring to Killinleigh, in the west portion of Moyaliff]:
   • Hervey de Montmorency-Morres, Genealogical Memoir of the Family of Montmorency (1817), ISBN 134133841X, Appendix XCV:
     • https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DSwAAAAAQAAJ&dq
     • https://archive.org/details/genealogicalmem00morrgoog/page/n118/mode/2up
4. ↑ Edmond Morres was the grandson of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, and his wife Margaret FitzGerald.
5. ↑ The O'Briens of Carrigogunell were in direct descent from Conor O'Brien, King of Thomond, (d.1426) who was the younger son of Mahon O'Brien, King of Thomond (d.1369), of Bunratty Castle, Co. Clare.
6. ↑ John was the son of Philip O'Dwyer, chief of his nation, who died in 1593:
   • William Burke, History of Clonmel, published in 1907:
     • https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=VEJ9CgAAQBAJ&dq
7. ↑ "History of the Life of James Duke of Ormonde from His Birth 1610 to His Death 1688" by Thomas Carte (J. J. Knapton, 1736), page lii (52), searchable online here:
   • https://books.google.fr/books?id=SchMAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR52&lpg=PR52&dq
8. ↑ The mother of Gyles would appear to be Myler Magrath's first wife, Áine [Amy], daughter of John O'Meara of Lisany [many spelling variations including Lissniskea & Lismisky] of County Tipperary [referencing Henry Cotton (1851), The Succession of the Prelates and Members of the Cathedral Bodies of Ireland, Vol. 1, The Province of Munster (Dublin: Hodges & Smith), pp.12–13].
   • Wikipedia: Archbishop Miles Magrath
9. ↑ Archbishop Magrath's profile by Alfred Webb, A Compendium of Irish Biography (1878):
   • https://www.libraryireland.com/biography/ArchbishopMilerMagrath.php
10. ↑ According to Judy Barry, author of Archbishop Magrath's profile in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, Magrath married "Anne O'Meara" ca. 1576:
    • https://www.dib.ie/biography/magrath-miler-meiler-a5351
11. ↑ William Burke, History of Clonmel
12. ↑ "Peerage of England", by Arthur Collins, Sir Egerton Brydges F.C. and J. Rivington, 1812, p.100, searchable online here:
    • https://books.google.fr/books?id=ak45AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq
13. ↑ Sir John Sherlock's 1st cousin Margaret married Sir Richard Shee, legal advisor to Walter Butler's brother Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond.
14. ↑ See also Wikipedia: Sir Laurence Esmonde
15. ↑ https://archive.org/details/jstor-25497773/page/n3/mode/2up
16. ↑ "The details of [the will] are given in Morrin's "Calendar" of the Patent Rolls of Ireland, Vol.1, p.133"
17. ↑ Family connections: Edmund Blanchville's grandson Sir John Sherlock later married Walter's daughter Elizabeth.
18. ↑ Ormond Deeds, Vol.4, p.289
    • https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/digital/Calendar%20of%20Ormond%20Deeds%20Vol.%20IV.%201509-1547/Calendar%20of%20Ormond%20Deeds%20Vol.%20IV.%201509-1547.pdf
19. ↑ Here is the portion of the 9th Earl of Ormond's will that solely concerns his 4th son Walter (although Walter is mentioned in other sections of the will):
    • "I will that all persons seased to the manors of Ballytarsney and Moyallie in countie Tipperarie, with all thappurtenaunces in Ballytarsne, Moyally, Ballynry, BallynJmock, Ballynenodaghe, the Blackecastell of Ardmayll, Cloneworty, Barcurro, Kilcuyskyn, Lysurun, and of all my landes and tenementes and hereditamentes in Poble Ovogerte, Bwellynhawe, Doheve, Palice Oleighe, Killowoyan, Garrinelogho, Killynbride, Knocknure, and of all the landes, tenementes and hereditamentes in Oleighe and Upper Ormond which late were Conogher McDermot Ownes landes, my second best hous in Cashel, countie Tipperarie, and Maylardeston, countie Kilkenny, their heires and assignees stand and be seased unto thuse and behouf of my ffourthe son, Waltier."
      • Ormond Deeds, Vol.4, p.290
20. ↑ William F. Butler, “The Descendants of James, Ninth Earl of Ormond.” Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol.19, no.1 (1929), p.33.
    • www.jstor.org/stable/25513504
21. ↑ "Extinct" is unlikely, as Piers' son James had 10 sons, although it appears they lost the lands as a result of the Confiscations in the 1650s.
22. ↑ Patrick Theobald Tower Butler (Lord Dunboyne), "Butler Family History", Butler Society, Kilkenny, Ireland (1966), p.22. The author mentions "three sons" of Walter Butler but may have meant to say "three children" (Piers, Joan, Ellice), as other sources indicate just one son, Piers.
    • https://archive.org/details/butlerfamilyhist00dunb/page/22/mode/2up?q=nodstown
23. ↑ Regarding the grandson of Piers who "settled in America": There was a Butler man (of unknown parentage) who settled in Massachusetts in the 1650s, and one of Piers' granddaughters Ellen Butler married Edmund Fanning and emigrated to Connecticut Colony in 1653.