James Butler (abt. 1551 - 1624)

Born about 1551 in Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (O'Brien) Butler — married about 1590 in Ireland

Descendants

Died 8 Feb 1624 at about age 73 in Dunboyne, County Meath, Ireland

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James Butler was a member of the aristocracy in British Isles.

Biography

A ward of Queen Elizabeth in 1567, when his father died, aged 16 upon his May 1567 death.^[1] Served under Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde, in his struggles against Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone in 1600-1.^[2]

He appears in the 1574 Survey of Ireland:^[3]

• "Men of Name [in the province of Munster]: Earl of Ormond, Count Palatine; Baron of Don Boyen [Dunboyne], Sir Tobot [Tibbot/Theobald] Butler of Cayer [Cahir], James Tobyn of the Compsey, Piers Butler of Grallo [Grallagh], O’Mulreans [O'Mulryan], O’Kennedy of Ormonde, Purcell, Baron Loughmaye [Loughmoe]; Cantwell."

In the same Earl of Ormond's (very premature) final will and testament -- written in 1575 upon embarking on a sea voyage for England, although he did not die until 1614 -- Thomas Butler wrote: "I will ... that my Lord of Donboyne shall have for a token my helmet of silver."^[4]

From the book Dromana: The Memoirs of an Irish Family:^[5]

• On the 10th of May, 1579, Sir William Pelham, the Lord Justice [of Ireland], called a general assembly of the Munster lords at Limerick. [Thomas, 10th Earl of] Ormond duly appeared, bringing with him White, the Masters of the Rolls; Lords Dunboyne and Power, and Sir James FitzGerald of Decies. Lord Roche and his son Maurice, and Sir Thomas of Desmond came from Cork, followed later by a few others. None of the Western chiefs came, and Pelham, seeing no hopes of more coming, conferred with those who were present. They swore to forego private quarrels, and to band against [Gerald, 15th Earl of] Desmond and his rebel followers.

While James was loyal to the Earl of Ormond throughout the Earl's life (d.1614), three of James' sons from his 2nd marriage -- Edward Butler of Clare, Richard of Ballinakill (Co. Tipperary), and Theobald Butler of Killoskan -- were all named in the Depositions as being involved in the December 1641 raid on Cashel in which 14 English Protestants were killed. At least one of the brothers, Theobald, was executed for his crimes in 1652.^[6]

Marriages & Children

According to Lodge's Peerage,^[1] James Butler had 17 children from 2 wives.

1) James Butler married ca. 1575 his first cousin once-removed [common ancestor: James Butler, 10th Baron of Dunboyne] Margaret FitzPatrick, daughter of Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron Upper Ossory, by his wife Joan Eustace, who was the daughter of Rowland Eustace, 2nd Viscount Baltinglass.

Children by Margaret FitzPatrick:^[7]

• John Butler (slain in 1602 by Oliver Grace), married his first cousin once-removed Joan Fitzpatrick, who was daughter of Florence Fitzpatrick, 3rd Baron Upper Ossory, and Catherine O'More. In turn, Catherine was daughter of Patrick O'More of Abbeyleix^[8], in County Laios/Leix (Queen's County).
  • John & Joan's son was Edmond Butler, 3rd Baron Dunboyne.

• Pierce Butler of Ballydroghid, County Tipperary, married Ellen Sutton, daughter of Gerald Sutton,^[9] of Ballykyroe. Pierce bitterly contested his nephew Edmond's claim to the title of 3rd Baron Dunboyne, without success. However their grandson Pierce Butler (via son Edmund Butler & Honora Gould O'Mulryan)^[10] later became the 5th Baron.

• Edmund

• Walter (died unmarried and without issue)^[11]

• Thomas (died unmarried and without issue)

• Catherine, who married Nicholas,^[12][13] eldest son of Sir John Everard of Fethard, Knight.^[14][15]

• Joan, who married Maurice FitzGibbon, eldest son of the White Knight^[16][17]

• Ellen, born ca. 1585, who married Maurice FitzGerald of Lackagh and had issue

2) Secondly, James Butler married Margaret O'Brien (died 20 Feb 1636; buried in St Patrick's Church, Cashel) the daughter of Conor O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Thomond, by his 2nd wife Ownye ["Una"], daughter of Turlogh O'Brien, of Arra, County Tipperary.

Children by Margaret O'Brien,^[18] in very approximate birth order:

• Ellen (born ca.1590), who married Theobald Purcell, who became Baron of Loughmoe upon his father Richard's death in 1624.^[19]

• James Butler, "of Grallagh", County Tipperary, married Ellen Butler, 4th daughter of Walter, 11th Earl of Ormonde and Helen Butler.^[20] James drowned at sea in 1619, along with Ellen's brother Thomas, Viscount Thurles.

• Edward Butler of Clare, County Tipperary, married Elizabeth Dobbin, daughter of Nicholas Dobbin, Alderman of Waterford.
  • Their son James Butler married Janet Cantwell, daughter of Captain John Cantwell and had issue.^[21]

• Eleanor, who married Sir John FitzGerald, Lord of Decies and had a son Gerald (Lord of Decies upon his father's death in 1626) who married Mabel Digby.

• Joan, who married Callaghan O'Callaghan of Clonmyn, Cork.^[22]

• John

• Thomas (d.1637) of Pollardstown,^[23] Limerick. He married Ellice FitzPatrick (granddaughter of Florence, 3rd Baron of Upper Ossory, via his son Geoffrey) and died in 1637.
  • children James (heir) and daughters Margaret, Mary, Ellen, Ellice^[24]

• Richard [of Ballinakill, Co. Tipperary], made heir to Richard Butler^[25] of Cabragh^[26][27][28]

• Theobald Butler of Killoskan. He married Margaret (widow of Sir Nicholas Arthur, of Limerick), daughter of Sir Valentine Blake,^[29] 1st Baronet, of Menlough, County Galway, by his first wife Margaret French, daughter of Robuck French, and had issue.^[30] Theobald was executed in Cashel in November 1652 for crimes committed during the Irish rebellion of the 1640s.

Lands of Grallagh

The lands of Grallagh came to the Butlers by conveyance dated 21 and 28 September, 1432, from Thomas Barret, vicar of Fethard, to Edmond, son of James le Botiller. On 5 August, 1524, these lands were settled by Edmond's grandson James, 10th Lord Dunboyne on James' younger son Peter (Piers). On the latter's death Grallagh passed to his son James, whose son, Edmond Butler of Boytonrath, by conveyance dated 5 October, 1592, granted all his "rights, titles and interest in the lands of Grallagh to [his 1st cousin once removed] James Butler, [2nd/12th] Baron of Dunboyne" [grandson of the 10th Lord]. The castle later became the seat of Lord Dunboyne's 5th son, James Butler, described as "a man of great power, means and alliance, being married to Lady Ellen Butler." She was a daughter of Walter "of the Rosaries", 11th Earl of Ormonde. The keep of Grallagh Castle still stands [1952]. A stone staircase provides ascent to the summit. It is situated in the parish of Graystown, and barony of Middlethird, County Tipperary.^[31]

Origins of the Dunboyne Title

From Cokayne's Peerage, 2nd Edition:^[32]

• "The Lordship of Dunboyne, anciently held by the family of Le Petit, was acquired in marriage with the heiress thereof by Sir Thomas Butler, who was slain 1329. His descendants, feudal Barons thereof, were frequently summuned to the Irish Parliament, the 9th in descent from him being [James' father] Edmund, who was created a Lord of Parliament in 1541."

• From here, Cokayne quotes historian Lynch, p.145:
• "William Butler, Baron of Dunboyne, was attainted, and the Crown, in 1460, granted the Barony to Rowland FitzEustace, etc. Edmond Butler, however, the next heir male in remainder after the forfeiture, obtained the Barony of Dunboyne from the King, and a statute was passed in 1472 for repealing all laws against him. In all the royal instruments he is called Lord and Baron of Dunboyne, yet his [great-]grandson, Sir Edmund Butler, sued out and obtained a patent from Henry VIII regranting and confirming this Barony to him and his heirs male for ever."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Lodge, John with Archdall, Mervyn. The Peerage of Ireland. Vol. 6. 1789, p. 223-4. Dublin: J Moore.
2. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage: The Dunboyne Line
3. ↑ Sir Henry Blackall, The Butlers of County Clare, Appendix V: Survey of Ireland, 1574. (from the Carew Manuscripts, Lambeth Palace Library, Vol. 621 p. 106):
   • http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/butlers/appendix5.htm
4. ↑ Calendar of Ormond Deeds, Vol. V, p.279:
   • https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/digital/Calendar%20of%20Ormond%20Deeds%20Vol.%20V.%201547-1584/Calendar%20of%20Ormond%20Deeds%20Vol.%20V.%201547-1584.pdf
5. ↑ Dromana: The Memoirs of an Irish Family, by Therese Muir MacKenzie (Therese Villiers Stuart), published 1907 (Dublin: Sealy, Bryers & Walker), p.66:
   • https://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/thrse-mackenzie/dromana--the-memoirs-of-an-irish-family-ala.shtml
6. ↑ See the profiles of the sons for excerpts and sources.
7. ↑ Lodge specifies 5 sons and 3 daughters from this 1st marriage:
   • John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland
8. ↑ Given the year and location, Patrick was possibly the son of Owny m'Donnell O'More
9. ↑ In year 10 of the reign of James I (1613), Gerald Sutton of Ballykerrocke, County Wexford, appears on the patent roll as son and heir of William Sutton, gentleman, deceased. Gerald's son and heir is Edward Sutton, and Edward's son and heir is William Sutton. [Gerald born ca.1540, Edward born ca.1565, William born ca.1590]
   • Calendar of Patent Rolls of the Chancery of Ireland, published by A. Thom (Ireland, 1800), p.234:
     • https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=XD5JAAAAcAAJ&dq
10. ↑ Cracroft's Peerage calls Honora the daughter of William O'Mulryan. Given the year, family connections, and geographic proximity, this William O'Mulryan, who married a daughter of Captain John Cantwell, is a possibility.
11. ↑ Possibly the "Walter Butler, Dunboyne's son", who is receiving a pension for military service to Spain in 1606. From the "List of Irish officers and pensioners in the service of Spain," as recorded in the book "Wild Geese in Spanish Flanders 1582-1700" edited by Brendan Jennings for the Irish Manuscripts Commission (1964). Walter's name appears on p.530, about 3/4 of the way down the page:
    • https://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/digital/Wild%20Geese%20in%20Spanish%20Flanders%201582-1700/Wild%20Geese%20in%20Spanish%20Flanders%201582-1700.pdf
12. ↑ Nicholas Everard died in June 1633:
    • Funeral Notices, Vol.17, p.180:
      • http://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000529291#page/180/mode/1up
13. ↑ Nicholas Everard, a barrister, was the son of judge & politician Sir John Everard (c.1550–1624) and the grandson of politician & landowner Redmond Everard. Nicholas' next brother was Sir Richard Everard, 1st Baronet of Ballyboy, Co. Tipperary. Richard was a devout Catholic and prominent member of Confederate Ireland, and was hanged by the victorious Cromwellian forces in 1650.
    • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everard_baronets
14. ↑ Nicholas Everard & Katherine Butler & one line of their descendants, from John O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees (1892), Vol.2. O'Hart mistakenly refers to Nicholas as "a younger brother of Sir Richard":
    • https://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees2/everard-4.php
15. ↑ The Everards lived at Burntcourt Castle, near Cahir, Co. Tipperary. Sir John Everard (nicknamed "the lawyer"), a Catholic, had to resign his judgeship in the 1610s for refusing to take the oath of supremacy during the reign of Protestant James I. Sir Richard Everard, the 2nd son, was created baronet in 1622 (two years before his father's death in 1624, at which time he inherited a large estate in "Clangibbon") and in 1627 he married Catherine Tobin, "daughter of the Chief Tobin", of Compsy, Barony of Slievardagh, Co. Tipperary. Richard and Catherine lived in the castle at Ballyboy, Barony of Iffa & Offa West, Co. Tipperary, and had one son, Redmond, and 2 daughters, Mary and Catherine. Sir Richard received many more lands in 1639 under Charles I.
    • The Everard "gateway ancestor" to Ireland was Martin Everard, who accompanied Prince John in 1185, and who was himself descended from the Everard mentioned in the Doomsday Book who fought alongside William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. Another descendant of Martin's was Laurence Everard of Tipperary, who fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 (as referenced in D'Alton's Irish Army List).
      • Rev. John Everard. “Everard’s Castle, Now Burntcourt Castle, near Cahir, County Tipperary.” The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 37, no. 1, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 1907, pp.74–85:
        • http://www.jstor.org/stable/25507589
16. ↑ Lodge does not specify which White Knight was Maurice's father, but from context this refers to Edmond FitzGibbon, 11th White Knight.
17. ↑ According to Lodge's Peerage, James Butler had 2 daughters named Joan -- one by each wife. However, according to Burke's Irish Family Records (author Montgomery-Massingberd, Burkes Peerage Ltd, London, 1976) and as cited on The Peerage, there was just one Joan who married at least twice.
18. ↑ Lodge specifies 6 sons and 3 daughters from this 2nd marriage:
    • John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland
19. ↑ Theobald Purcell's widow in 1644 was Joan Butler (born ca.1600), which would seem to indicate that Ellen (born ca.1590) was his first wife and mother of James (b.1609), and that Ellen died young. Theobald's 2nd wife Joan was daughter of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond.
20. ↑ Walter & Helen were 2nd cousins. Helen was the eldest daughter of Edmund, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret, by his wife Grizel FitzPatrick, who was daughter of Barnaby, 1st Baron Upper Ossory.
21. ↑ For further research: The children of James Butler & Janet Cantwell, from an unverified family tree and presented here simply as a source of potential leads:
    • A son Edward, who had 2 sons:
      • Most Rev. James, R.C. Archbishop of Cashel (d.1774) and Michael (d.15 Aug 1776) who m.Mary O’Leary.
        • Michael's son James (d.22 May 1784) m.Bridget Sheehy.
          • Their son (also James) became 13th Lord Dunboyne, title confirmed with reversal of attainder 1827 (25 Jul 1780-Château d’Echingen 6 Jul 1850), who m.1st 17 Aug 1799 Eleanor O’Connell (d.15 Mar 1817) and m.2nd London 19 Dec 1843 Mary Anne Vincent Vaughan (d.1847).
    • http://www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/gotha/ormonde.html
22. ↑ According to Lodge's Peerage, James Butler had 2 daughters named Joan -- one by each wife. However, according to Burke's Irish Family Records (author Montgomery-Massingberd, Burkes Peerage Ltd, London, 1976) and as cited on The Peerage, there was just one Joan who married at least twice.
23. ↑ The will of Thomas Butler, Pollardstown, 5 April,1637:
    • Wife: mentioned, but not by name.
    • Children: James, 4 daughters mentioned [later named, in same source document, entry #495, as Margaret, Mary, Ellen, Ellice]
    • Nephew: [Edmund 3rd/13th] Lord of Dunboyne.
    • Place-Names: Ballynlynty, Dranganbegg, Clouneluyske, Cnockrafonde.
    • Executors: Richard Butler (brother), Tibbott Purcell (brother-in-law), Thomas Tobyn [likely descendant of Thomas Tobin, Lord of Compsey]
    • Witnesses: William Shea, Richard Shea [likely descended from Sir Richard Shee MP], Teige mcWalter.
      • The Testamentary Records of the Butler Families in Ireland (genealogical abstracts), edited by Rev. Wallace Clare (1932), p.57:
        • https://archive.org/details/testamentaryreco00clar/page/110/mode/2up
24. ↑ From Thomas descend the Butlers of Pollardstown, Co. Limerick.
    • Patrick Theobald Tower Butler (Lord Dunboyne), "Butler Family History", Butler Society, Kilkenny, Ireland (1966), pp.27:
      • https://archive.org/details/butlerfamilyhist00dunb/page/26/mode/2up
25. ↑ Possibly the same Richard Butler of Cabragh mentioned in the 1542 complaint to Henry VIII. See the profile of Geoffrey Fanning for details.
26. ↑ From Richard descend the Butlers of Ballinakill, Co. Tipperary.
    • Patrick Theobald Tower Butler (Lord Dunboyne), "Butler Family History", Butler Society, Kilkenny, Ireland (1966), pp.27:
      • https://archive.org/details/butlerfamilyhist00dunb/page/26/mode/2up
27. ↑ Possibly the same Cabragh, Co. Tipperary (near Thurles) which is the site of a ruined castle:
    • https://www.geograph.ie/photo/6497005
    • https://www.logainm.ie/en/47088
28. ↑ The Cabragh line was started in the late 1400s by John Butler, son of James, 7th Baron Dunboyne
29. ↑ Sir Valentine Blake (estimated birth year 1550-1580) is possibly connected to this Valentine Blake of Galway who lived in the late 1400s. Note also the "French" surname in both cases.
30. ↑ "From Theobald, younger son of the 12th Baron by his second wife, descend the Butlers of Drom and Wilford, Co. Tipperary (including the Butler-Kearneys), of Park, Co. Tipperary, (including the Butler-Lloyds), of Priestown, Co, Meath, of Maidenhall, Co. Kilkenny, and of Waterville, Co. Kerry."
    • Patrick Theobald Tower Butler (Lord Dunboyne), "Butler Family History", Butler Society, Kilkenny, Ireland (1966), pp.27:
      • https://archive.org/details/butlerfamilyhist00dunb/page/26/mode/2up
31. ↑ Sir Henry Blackall, "The Butlers of County Clare", first published in the North Munster Antiquarian Journal, 1952, full text available online here:
    • http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/butlers/seats.htm
32. ↑ Cokayne, George Edward and Vicary Gibbs ed. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. IV: Dacre - Dysart, 2nd edition. (London, 1916), p.516, footnote (c):
    • https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo04coka/page/516/mode/2up

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