Edmund Butler
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Edmund Butler (abt. 1533 - bef. 1602)

Sir Edmund "of Cloghgrenan, of Dullogh" Butler
Born about in County Carlow, Irelandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , , , and
Husband of — married about 1555 (to about 1585) in Irelandmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , and
Died before before about age 69 in County Kilkenny, Irelandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 14 Jul 2014
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Contents

Biography

Sir Edmund Butler was the 2nd son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormonde and Lady Joan Fitzgerald.

Based on a land dispute, Edmund rebelled against the Crown and therefore became an adversary of his elder brother Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond.

After his father and entourage were poisoned at a London banquet in 1546, Edmund received the Dullough in this father's will. Sir Edmund's land holdings also included Roscrea (County Tipperary) and Cloughgrenan (County Carlow).

Before 1560, Edmund married Eleanor Eustace, sister of James Eustace, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass, an instigator of the Desmond Rebellions. All 4 of their legitimate sons (Piers, James, John, Theobald) died without issue.

According to Edmund Curtis, Professor of Modern History at Trinity College, Dublin, and translator of the Ormond Deeds in the 1930s:[1]

  • "A temporising and opportunist attitude was then common among the nobles of the Crown, and it is recorded of the Earl's second brother Edmund that, though he was a rebel for other reasons in 1569, he was prepared to be either Papist or Protestant as the Queen wished."

The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland published a nearly 60-page review (in 2 sections) of Sir Edmond Butler's life, some excerpts of which are included here:[2]

  • In 1562, the Crown put Sir Edmund in the commission of the peace for the county of Carlow, while the Deputy was absent, against Shane O'Neil [uncle of Hugh] in the North. So high did he stand in the favour of the State that he was knighted in 1567. He had done great service in Leix, against the O'Mores, who, at that time, were a great trouble to the Crown. In the conflict he slew Terelagh Mac Shane and Teage O'Dowlyn, and sent their heads to the Lord Justice; and [historian?] Cox says that at this time he pretended to act against James Fitzmaurice, with whom he was afterwards in league. His rewards for these services were not confined to the honour of knighthood, which was conferred upon him "for the losse of his blod dyvers tymes," as he also received many grants of the monastic lands.
  • Sir Edmund invaded the territories of Oliver Fitzgerald, in company with Piers Grace,[3][4] a notorious outlaw. In concert with his brother Edward, Sir Edmund harassed and spoiled the young Lord Dunboyne's property. Edward Butler, with a force of 1,100 kerne, and bringing [his young son] Piers with him, invaded the country of Mc-I-Brien Ara, who complained of the outrage in a letter to the Lord Justice. Piers Butler spoiled and preyed Lord Power's district in Waterford, while Edward Butler committed similar outrages in the White Knight's territory; so that there was nothing but violence and disorder in Ormond and the neighbouring districts. This was the state of affairs from 1567 to 1568.
  • In September 1569, he submitted to the Deputy at Limerick, and was brought before him in Dublin Castle. His violent attack on Sir Henry Sydney caused him to be thrown into prison, from which he escaped, but again submitted in February 1570. Between 1570 and 1573 he served the State with great fidelity and ability against Fitzmaurlce, and was pardoned, with his two brothers, in October 1573.
  • Sir Edmund & Eleanor Eustace had 4 sons, Piers, John, James, and Theobald, who later became Lord Tullophelim. In addition, Sir Edmund also had a "natural" son Thomas. [see "Children" below]
  • His personal chaplain in 1569 was Sir Nicholas Comerford (p.180)
  • "Sir Edmund and his 4 sons. Piers, John, James, and Theobald, all died before [Sir Edmund's elder brother Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond]. John and James died childless. Piers, the eldest, left one daughter, and as it is said, a natural son, Piers, who gave some trouble to Walter, the 11th Earl of Ormonde. If this son of Piers Fitz Edmund succeeded in proving himself legitimate, he would have established his claim to the Earldom (supposing Sir Edmund's blood untainted), as Walter Butler was descended from a younger son, John of Kilcash.(p.229)

Research Notes

From the section "Butler Revolt of 1569" on Sir Edmund's Wikipedia profile:

  • For generations the Earls of Ormond were strongly loyal to the English Crown, which meant Sir Edmund earned infamy when he led the Butler Revolt in 1569 (the same year as the notorious Desmond Rebellion).
  • Edmund's change of heart regarding the English Crown stemmed from a land dispute. His father, the 9th Earl of Ormond, had purchased the Dullogh from the Kavanaghs, who had occupied the land since before the Norman invasion of Ireland. However, Sir Peter Carew put forward a claim in right of his ancestors, the Lords of Idrone. It was in defence of his property that Sir Edmund came into conflict with the Government.
  • Alongside his brothers Edward and Pierce,[5] Edmund's rebellion was in direct response to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney, who granted Edmund's lands in Idrone to Sir Peter Carew. Edmund and his brothers responded by raiding English settlements up and down Leinster and were declared traitors by Sidney. This was all the more remarkable given the Butlers' historical loyalty to the Crown.
  • Eventually Edmund's brother Thomas, the 10th Earl of Ormond, fearing for the future of his lands and titles, responded by joining his former enemy Sidney and marched against Edmund. Under pressure from his elder brother, Edmund was attainted by Queen Elizabeth I. But on surrendering his estate to the Queen, 10 October 1570, Edmund was pardoned of all treason, together with his brothers Edward and Piers, dated at Gorhambury 12 March 1573. However, while she agreed to spare his life, Elizabeth did not remove the attainder on Edmund. His brothers Edward and Piers Butler remained loyal to the Desmond (rebel) forces.
  • The indefatigable Edmund, with the help of notorious chieftain Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne, escaped from Dublin Castle where he was imprisoned.[6]
  • Sir Edmund remained at large until his death in Inistioge (County Kilkenny) between 1580 and 1590, [disputed date; see below] when Queen Elizabeth reversed the attainder on his last remaining legitimate son Theobald. In 1597, his elder two sons Piers and James were executed at Thurles by their uncle Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond, during another rebellion.

From Henry Blackall's The Butlers of County Clare:

  • Sir Edmond Butler was considered a traitor to Queen Elizabeth I in this Attainder from 1570, which mentions 15 Irish traitors altogether:[7]
  • "But the wicked, better acquainted with darkenss than lighte, have chosen to wallowe in their own filthe and puddle of tyranny, oppression, rape, rapine and spoile, for as it is manifest and well known to us, the vile and ingrate traytours

Verbatim from A Brief History of the Purcells of Ireland:[9][10]

  • James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and his wife Lady Joan FitzGerald, daughter of James FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Desmond, had had seven sons, of whom Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond was the eldest. At the time of the Desmond Rebellion, Sir Edmund Butler, Edward Butler and Piers Butler, younger brothers of the 10th Earl of Ormond, were themselves in open rebellion. In 1568, Edward Butler and the son of Sir Edmund Butler were accused of having attacked the lands of Mac-i-Brien:
    • With six hundred gunners and kerne [Irish light infantry], one hundred galloglass [Scottish mercenaries], sixty horsemen and three hundred slaves, knaves and boys, Edward had invaded Ara, carried off three hundred coffers that lay within two churches, to the value of five hundred pounds; and remaining during two days and two nights round these churches, his men ravished all the poor women, young and old, married and unmarried, who had fled into the said churches.
  • In April 1569, the Lord Deputy of Ireland [Sir Henry Sidney] sent a Commission from Dublin to Tipperary to investigate the crimes of the brothers of the Earl of Ormond and take evidence. The Commissioners spent a night at Loughmoe Castle[11] while in Tipperary, and Edward Butler, showing his defiance, arrived at Loughmoe with a great number of kerne, “which pilfered and spoiled the poor people of the town, so as all night we had but howling and crying…” The 10th Earl’s youngest brother, Piers Butler, whom the Commissioners intended to meet in Kilkenny with a view to arresting him and transporting him to Dublin, “retired to his bed at Loughmoe, sore sick or so feigning himself” in order to avoid the journey to Kilkenny.
  • By June 1569, Sir Edmund Butler was in league with James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, who was leading the Desmond uprising in place of his cousin, the imprisoned [Gerald, 15th] Earl of Desmond. Sir Edmund Butler was deeply hostile to Sidney, Queen Elizabeth’s Lord Deputy of Ireland. In July and August 1569, Piers Butler plundered Callan [southwest of Kilkenny] and then the town of Leighlin Bridge [border of counties Kilkenny and Carlow], killing nine men and burning four young children in the latter location. Learning of his brothers’ conduct, the Earl of Ormond hurried over from England and met his three brothers near Kilkenny on September 1. Sir Edmund and Piers accompanied the 10th Earl to Dublin, where the two rebel brothers were imprisoned. Sir Edmund then escaped from Dublin Castle, and Piers was released on bail. Parliament passed an Act of Attainder in 1570 against the three brothers as “vile and ingrate traitors.” Queen Elizabeth pardoned the three in 1573, but the attainder was not reversed.
  • At the end of the first Desmond Rebellion, Sir Edmund and Edward switched to their eldest brother’s side and fought against the rebels. Twenty years later, in the late 1590s, Sir Edmund Butler’s son, another Piers Butler, joined in the rebellion of O’Neill and O’Donnell. When this Piers Butler was later captured, his uncle, the 10th Earl of Ormond, had him hanged as a traitor at Thurles, near Loughmoe, and had his head brought to Dublin.

Discrepancy over Sir Edmund's death year:

Not much is known of Sir Edmund after 1585, and estimates of his death appear to be either 1) mid-1580s or 2) November 1602. Fortunately for genealogists, this does not affect the paternity of any children. Looking at some sources:

  • The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland published a nearly 60-page review (in 2 sections) of Sir Edmund Butler's life, by Rev. James Hughes. Hughes ceases to mention Sir Edmund after the 1580s. Furthermore, Hughes indicates that Sir Edmund's son Piers (d.1597) had outlived his father and was kindly treated by Queen Elizabeth:[12]
  • Another source indicates that his widow Eleanor Eustace (now age 50+) married Oliver Oge Morres before 1587, which implies either Edmund's death or disappearance, or a divorce.[13] No issue from this possible marriage.
  • His Wikipedia profile, without citing a specific source for the year, says: "He remained at large until his death at Inistioge between 1580 and 1590. He is buried at St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny city."
  • Cokayne's Peerage cites a death date of November 1602, but might be referring to his 1st cousin, Sir Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret, who also died in November 1602.
  • Sir Edmund's younger brother Edward also died in November 1602.
  • The Ormond Deeds show a land transaction as late as April 1601 involving Sir Edmund Butler, son of James, late Earl of Ormond.

Children

The children of Sir Edmund Butler and Eleanor Eustace included, among others:

  1. Piers Butler (d.1596), who married Mary Butler, with issue
  2. James Butler (d.1596)
  3. Theobald Butler (c. 1570-1613), created Viscount Butler of Tulleophelim in 1603. He married his first cousin Lady Elizabeth Butler (daughter of Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond)
  4. Joan Butler, who married Teige, 4th Baron Upper Ossory, son of Florence FitzPatrick, 3rd Baron
  5. Katherine Butler, who married William Fitzjohn Eustace

Edmund also had an illegitimate son, with Sadbh, daughter of Donal mac Cahir Kavanagh of Sliocht Muircheartaigh Oig, while she was the wife of Sir Edmund's friend, the notorious Irish chieftain and rebel Feagh Mac Hugh O'Byrne:[14]

  1. Sir Thomas Butler, 1st Baronet of Cloughgrenan (d.1642)[15] married Anne Colclough, daughter of Sir Thomas Colclough and Martha Loftus.

Despite Sir Edmund's political conflicts with his elder brother, the 10th Earl of Ormond, Thomas still depended on him in family matters. In his (premature) final will and testament of 1576, Thomas wrote: "I will ... that my ... brother Sir Edmund ... be loving and friendly to my bastard children, and that he and [Thomas' trusted advisor] Richard Shee be careful to have them well brought up."[16]

Sources

  1. ↑ Calendar of Ormond Deeds, Vol V, 1547-1584:
  2. ↑ Rev. James Hughes, from the chapter "Sir Edmund Butler of the Dullough, Knight", Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland (Vol 1, 4th series, 1878), pp.153-192; pp.213-231:
  3. ↑ Likely related to Sir John Grace of Courtstown.
  4. ↑ In 1573, Piers Grace also had "notorious" dealings with Barnaby FitzPatrick, 2nd Baron of Upper Ossory.
  5. ↑ Joining the men in this rebellion was James Butler of Grallagh, son of their 1st cousin Piers Butler of Grallagh. See James' profile for more details.
  6. ↑ "Imprisoned at Dublin Castle [in 1569], Sir Edmund escaped by means of a rope. The rope broke and he lay all night in the water of the castle moat. By the aid of some of the O'Byrnes, among them Feagh MacHugh, then a young man, he got away to the Wicklow hills. From this time probably dates the close connection with the O'Byrnes of Edmund and his family."
    • 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.35.
      • www.jstor.org/stable/25513504
  7. ↑ Sir Henry Blackall, The Butlers of County Clare, Appendix 2: Attainder of James Butler of Grallagh:
  8. ↑ The Butlers of Polestown were descended from Sir James Butler (1440-1487), father of Piers, 8th Earl of Ormond, via one of Piers' 2 illegitimate elder brothers (Edmund and Theobald).
  9. ↑ Col. Brien Purcell Horan, A Brief History of the Purcells of Ireland (2000), pp.30-31:
  10. ↑ These details of the rebellion of the 10th Earl of Ormond’s younger brothers are taken from W.F. Butler, M.A., M.R.I.A., “Plot and Counterplot in Elizabeth Ireland”, Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, vol. 15, No. 60 (Dec. 1926), pp. 633-648
  11. ↑ Sir Thomas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe, was a close friend of the 10th Earl of Ormond and, although culturally Irish, was known for his loyalty to the Crown.
  12. ↑ Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland (Vol 1, 4th series, 1878), pp.153-192; pp.213-231; with the specific reference to Piers FitzEdmund on p.229:
  13. ↑ Hervey de Montmorency-Morres, Genealogical Memoir of the Family of Montmorency, 592 pages (1817), see p.58, and also Appendix XCIV:
  14. ↑ Emmett O'Byrne, "The Rise of the Gabhal Raghnaill". Family historian O'Byrne was awarded an M.Phil. by Trinity College, Dublin, in 1996, for his dissertation on the Ui Bhroin of county Wicklow and their Lordship to 1434. The Ui Bhroin was the subject of his later studies for a PhD from Trinity College. His history of the O'Byrne clan and their neighbors can be found here:
  15. ↑ Sir Thomas Butler, 1st Baronet of Cloughgrenan
  16. ↑ Calendar of Ormond Deeds, Vol. V, p.279:
  • The Complete Peerage: G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), Volume II, page 452.
  • Hughes, James; The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland, Fourth Series, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1870), pp. 153-192, 211-231.
  • Ormond, Duke of, Life 1610-'88: Thomas A. Carte, M.A. 6 vols. Oxford, 1851




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