Butlers of Ormond

Principal Anglo-Irish dynasty established in Munster in 1171 by Theobald Fitzwalter, who was created chief butler of Ireland by Henry II in 1177. The title Earl of Ormond was granted by Edward III in 1329. By 1391 the dynasty was pre-eminent in Leinster and east Munster, with a magnificent castle seat at Kilkenny City. It enjoyed peaks of influence in Ireland in the 15th century under the ‘White Earl’, James, 4th Earl of Ormond (c. 1390-1452), and again in the 16th century during the suppression of the Kildares and through Elizabeth I's special relationship with ‘Black’ Tom, the 10th Earl (1532-1614). Loyalty to the Stuart cause in the 17th century was rewarded by the title of duke, granted to James, 12th Earl of Ormond in 1660, but rendered the house suspect as Jacobites after 1688; in 1715 James, 2nd Duke of Ormond was forced into exile in France. The house was restored by George II in 1755 but never again enjoyed such high political influence.

Theobald Fitzwalter, the Anglo-Norman founder of the dynasty, originally established the family seat at Gowran, North Kilkenny. The title of earl was granted to his 7th direct descendant, James Butler. Both the 2nd Earl of Ormond (earl 1338-82) and James, 3rd Earl of Ormond (earl 1382-1405) served as chief governors of Ireland. The family's influence in Ireland was at its highest in the later middle ages under the ‘White Earl’, who gained increasing influence over the Gaelic Irish lordships while successfully resisting English interference. Following his death, the family was eclipsed by the rise of their neighbours and rivals the Fitzgeralds of Kildare, but this was reversed by Piers, 8th Earl of Ormond (earl 1515-39) and James, 9th Earl of Ormond (earl 1539-46), who exploited the downfall of the Kildares to regain national importance. However, although their successor ‘Black’ Tom enjoyed unprecedented influence at the English court, the hostility of the New English planters combined with his failure to produce a male heir plunged the family into crisis in the early 17th century. The dynasty recovered under the 1st Duke of Ormond, but its unswerving loyalty to the Stuarts led the 2nd Duke to be accused of treason in 1714. After the restoration of the house the family recovered its estates and has sustained its line of descent to the present.