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Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (before 1596 – 1619) was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559–1633), whom he predeceased. He lived at the Westgate Castle in Thurles, County Tipperary. He was accused of treason but drowned in a shipwreck off the Skerries in the Irish Sea, before he could be judged. He was the father of the Irish statesman and Royalist commander James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.

Birth and origins

Thomas was born in 1594, the eldest son of Walter Butler and his wife Helen Butler. At the time of his birth, his father was a nephew of the ruling earl, Black Tom, the 10th earl of Ormond. His father's family, the Butler Dynasty, was Old English and descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed chief butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177.

Thomas's mother was the eldest daughter of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and his wife Grizel FitzPatrick. Thomas was one of eleven siblings, two brothers and nine sisters, who are listed in his father's article, but he was the only surviving son.

Marriage and children

Probably in 1608, but surely before 1610, Butler married Elizabeth Poyntz against his father's wishes. She was the second daughter of Sir John Poyntz (died 1633) of Iron Acton, Gloucestershire, and his second wife Elizabeth Sydenham (died 1595). His wife's family were English Catholics.

Thomas and Elizabeth had three sons:

1. James (1610–1688), became the 1st Duke of Ormond
2. John (died 1636), died unmarried in Naples on his travels
3. Richard (1615–1701) of Kilcash

—and four daughters:

1. Helena or Ellen or Eleanor (1612–1682), before 1633 married Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty
2. Eleanor or Ellen, in 1634 married Sir Andrew Aylmer (1613–1671), baronet, of Donadea in the County of Kildare
3. Mary (died 1680), in 1635 married Sir George Hamilton, 1st Baronet, of Donalong
4. Elizabeth (died 1675), married first James Purcell (1609–1652), Baron of Loughmoe, by whom she had Nicholas Purcell of Loughmoe (1651–1722); she married secondly John FitzPatrick of Castletown

Viscount Thurles

When Black Tom died on 22 November 1614, Butler's father succeeded as the 11th earl and Butler became heir apparent with the courtesy title of Viscount Thurles. While the Ormond title was secure, the lands were claimed by Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond, who had married Elizabeth, Black Tom's only surviving child.

Death and succession

In 1619 after the beginning of his father's long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison in London, Thurles was summoned to England to answer charges of treason, specifically, of having garrisoned Kilkenny. However, on 15 December the ship conveying him was wrecked off the Skerries, Isle of Anglesey, and he drowned. Like his father, Thurles was a prominent Catholic and it seems likely that his refusal to conform to the established Anglican religion had angered King James I and may have been the true motive for his summons.

Thurles predeceased his father, who would die in 1634. His eldest son James, the future 1st Duke of Ormond, became heir apparent and bearer of the courtesy title Viscount Thurles until he succeeded his grandfather as the 12th Earl of Ormond. Thurles's widow survived him for more than 50 years.

Notes and references

Notes

1. This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne. Also see the lists of children in the text.
2. Thurles, like his father was a staunch catholic and would have never married a protestant. Her paternal grandfather, Nicholas Poyntz, quite surely was a Catholic.
3. Bernard Burke lists the daughters as: Helena (married MacCarty), Ellen (married Aylmer), Mary (married Hamilton), and Elizabeth (married Purcell). Lodge lists them as Ellen (married MacCarty), Elizabeth (married Purcell), Mary (married Hamilton), and Eleanor (married Aylmer).
4. Their eldest son, Charles (or Cormac), was born between 4 June 1633 and 3 June 1634 as he died on 3 June 1635, aged 31.
5. Elizabeth was, however, not the mother of Richard FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Gowran, who was a son or grandson of Andrew Fitzpatrick of castle Fleming.

Citations

1. Dunboyne 1968, pp. 16–17. "Butler Family Tree condensed"
2. Debrett 1828, p. 640. "Theobald le Boteler on whom that office was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
3. Edwards 2004, p. 231, left column, line 7. "About 1584 he married Ellen (d. 1631) daughter of Edmund Butler, second Viscount Mountgarrett ..."
4. Lodge 1789, p. 38, line 27. "He married Hellena, eldest daughter of Edmond, the second Viscount Mountgarret ... having issue by her (who died 28 January 1631 ..."
5. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1550, left column, line 21. "... m. Elizabeth, dau. of Sir John Poyntz, knt. of Acton, co. Gloucester ..."
6. Hasler 1981, p. 243, right column. "Poyntz was on a list of Catholics dated 1582, and his sister Frances was the mother of the abbess Johanna Berkeley."
7. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 26. "... three sons and four daughters, viz:"
8. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 27. "James, successor to his grandfather, created Duke of Ormond, one of the ablest statesmen, and worthiest person of the age in which he flourished."
9. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 30. "John who died unmarried at Naples, on his travels, in 1636."
10. Lodge 1789, p. 40, line 18. "Richard Butler of Kilcash, Esq.; the youngest son, had a confirmation (by virtue of the commission of grace) 24 June 1639, of the lands of Kilcash, Garryricken, and many others in the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny; with a limitation thereof to his heirs male; remainder to the respective heirs male of Walter Earl of Ormond; Pierce Butler Fitz-Walter ..."
11. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1550, left column, line 37. "Thomas, 1. Viscount Thurles ... had issue: ... 1. Helena ... 2. Ellen ... 3. Mary ... 4. Elizabeth ..."
12. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 16. "Thomas, Lord Thurles ... three sons and four daughters, viz. ... (1) Daughter Ellen ... (2) Elizabeth ... (3) Mary ... (4) Eleanor ..."
13. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1550, left column, line 70. "I. Helena, m. Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty."
14. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 33. "Daughter Ellen, married to Donogh, Earl of Clancarthy, and dying in April 1682, AEt. 70, was buried 24 in the Chancel of St. Michan's church."
15. G. E. C. 1913, p. 215, line 4. "He m. , before 1648, Eleanor, sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, da. of Thomas Butler styled Viscount Thurles, by Elizabeth da. of Sir John Pointz."
16. G. E. C. 1913, p. 215, line 13. "He d. v.p. being slain on board 'the Royal Charles' in a sea-fight against the Dutch, 3, and was bur. 22 June 1665 in Westm. Abbey."
17. Lainé 1836, p. 76, line 1. "... dans un combat naval livré aux Hollandais, le 13 juin 1665 à l'âge de trente-et-un ans."
18. G. E. C. 1900, p. 231, line 31. "He m. , in 1634 Ellen, sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, da. of Thomas Butler, styled Viscount Thurles, by Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Poyntz."
19. Lodge 1789, p. 40, line 16. "Eleanor, married to Sir Andrew Aylmer, of Donadea in the county of Kildare, Baronet."
20. Manning 2001, p. 150, line 42. "... February 28th 1635 regarding the marriage intended between Hamilton and Mary Butler, sister of the earl, which was to take place before the last day of April."
21. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 54, right column, line 33. "4. George (Sir), 1st Bart. of Donalong, co. Tyrone and Nenagh, co. Tipperary, created a baronet of Scotland about 1660; m. (art. dated 2 June 1629) Mary 3rd dau. of Thomas Viscount Thurles and sister of the 1st Duke of Ormonde. He d. 1679. She d. Aug 1680 ..."
22. Lodge 1789, p. 40, line 14. "Mary, married to Sir George Hamilton, ancestor by her to the Earl of Abercorn, and died in August 1680."
23. Lodge 1789, p. 39, line 36. "Elizabeth, first married to James Purcell, Esq.; titular baron of Loughmoe, by whom she had one son Nicholas, and two daughters; ..."
24. Burke 1866, p. 210, left column. "John Fitz-Patrick, Esq., of Castletown, doctor of laws, who m. Elizabeth, 4th dau. of Thomas, Viscount Thurles, sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, and widow of James Purcell, baron of Loughmoe, by whom (who d. 6 December 1675) ..."
25. Rigg 2004, p. 915. "... not as was formerly thought, the son of John Fitzpatrick of Castletown, Queen's County."
26. G. E. C. 1895, p. 148, line 30. "He d. s.p.m. at Carrick, 22 Nov. 1614, aged 82 ..."
27. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1550, left column, line 22. "... being unfortunately drowned on his passage from England, 15 Dec. 1619."
28. ^ G. E. C. 1895, p. 149, line14. "He d. v.p. , being drowned off the Skerrieds 15 Dec. 1619. His widow m. George Mathew, of Thurles, and d. at Thurles. May 1673 in her 86th year."
29. Carte 1851, p. 7. "... his father, upon whose decease he was by courtesy styled viscount Thurles."
30. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1550, left column, bottom. "The Earl d. 24 Feb 1632 and was s. by his grandson, James, 1st Duke of Ormonde ..."

Sources

• Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348. – (for FitzPatrick)
• Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1915). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage (77th ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 1155471554. – (for Ormond)
• Carte, Thomas (1851) . The Life of James Duke of Ormond. Vol. I (New ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 1086656347. – 1613 to 1641
• Debrett, John (1828). Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. II (17th ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington. OCLC 54499602. – Scotland and Ireland
• Dunboyne (1968). Butler Family History (2nd ed.). Kilkenny: Rothe House.
• Edwards, David (2004). "Butler, Thomas, tenth earl of Ormond and third earl of Ossory (1531–1558)". In Matthew, Henry Colin Gray; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 220–225. ISBN 0-19-861359-8.
• G. E. C. (1895). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. VI (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180818801. – N to R (for Ormond)
• G. E. C. (1900). Complete Baronetage, 1611 to 1800. Vol. I (1st ed.). Exeter: William Pollard & Co. OCLC 866278985. – 1611 to 1625
• G. E. C. (1913). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. III (2nd ed.). London: The St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clancarty)
• Hasler, P. W., ed. (1981). The House of Commons 1558–1603. Vol. II. London: His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-887501-9. – M to Z
• Lainé, P. Louis (1836). "Mac-Carthy". Archives généalogiques et historiques de la noblesse de France [Genealogical and Historical Archives of the Nobility of France] (in French). Vol. Tome cinquième. Paris: Imprimerie de Bethune et Plon. pp. 1–102. OCLC 865941166.
• Lodge, John (1789). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. IV. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Viscounts (for Butler, Viscount Mountgarrett)
• Manning, Conleth (2001). "The Two Sir George Hamiltons and their Connections with the Castles of Roscrea and Nenagh" (PDF). Tipperary Historical Journal: 149–154.
• Rigg, James McMullen (2004). "Fitzpatrick, Richard, 1st Baron Gowran (c. 1662–1727)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 915. ISBN 0-19-861369-5.

• 16th-century births
• 1619 deaths
• 17th-century Irish people
• British courtesy viscounts
• Butler dynasty
• Deaths due to shipwreck at sea
• Heirs apparent who never acceded
• Burials at St Michan's Church, Dublin