Earl of Ormond (Ireland)
The Earl of Ormond title was created in 1328 for James Butler. The earldom covered a substantial block of territory in the south of Ireland, anchored in what is now County Kilkenny. For most of its long history, the title belonged to the Butler family. But for one brief period in the sixteenth century, a man named Thomas Boleyn held the earldom. His daughter Anne was, at that time, the mistress of King Henry VIII. The man whose claim Boleyn displaced was named Piers Butler, and what Butler received in exchange would shape the earldom's future for decades.
James Butler had recently married Eleanor de Bohun, a granddaughter of Edward I, at the time of the first creation. The earls who followed him took significant roles in the government of Ireland over many subsequent years. They maintained loyalty to the English crown and to English custom as a defining family tradition. Several of the earls also had reputations as scholars. James's father had been made the first Earl of Carrick before the Ormond title was created, but that earldom did not pass to James. After a gap of seven years following his father's death, James received his own earldom in his own right.
The second earl was known widely as the Earl of Gowran from 1385, a customary title that reflected the family's standing. That standing would face its severest test in the mid-fifteenth century, when one earl's political allegiances cost the family everything it had built.
The fifth earl had been created Earl of Wiltshire in 1449, which gave him standing in the Peerage of England as well as Ireland. When he was attainted, both peerages were declared forfeit together. His younger brother, John Butler, secured the restoration of the earldom of Ormond in 1476, becoming the sixth earl. The succession then passed to Thomas, the seventh earl, who died without male heirs in 1515. That death left the question of inheritance unresolved. Piers Butler, a cousin of the seventh earl, had been acting as the de facto holder of the earldom for some years. Whether he was the de jure earl remained contested in law. That legal ambiguity would be resolved not in the courts of Ireland, but at the court of Henry VIII. The resolution would come at a price Piers Butler was pressured to accept.
In 1528, Piers Butler was induced to resign his rights to the earldom of Ormond. The arrangement came with a consolation: five days after surrendering his claim, Piers was created Earl of Ossory.
Thomas Boleyn then received the earldom of Ormond, along with the related title Earl of Wiltshire. Boleyn's connection to the title was genealogical but slim: he was a maternal grandson of the seventh earl. His daughter Anne's position at the court of Henry VIII made the grant politically convenient. Through Anne, Thomas Boleyn was also the grandfather of Elizabeth I of England. On Boleyn's death, both titles became extinct because he lacked male heirs. His son George had been executed for treason before him. The extinction of Boleyn's titles opened the way for a new creation, and the man waiting to receive it was Piers Butler.
Piers Butler received a new creation of the earldom in 1538. Its purpose was clear: to restore what had existed before the Boleyn irruption. An act of parliament in 1544 went further still. It confirmed Piers in possession of his earldom. Parliament declared that the relevant creation was not the 1538 grant, but the original creation of 1328. The retroactive judgment had a clear practical effect: it placed the Butler line within the oldest and most authoritative lineage of the earldom. The 1538 creation, which had seemed like a new beginning, was recast as a recognition of something already in existence. That legal continuity set the stage for the earldom's greatest elevation. James Butler, the fifth earl of this restored line, would eventually become not just an earl but a marquess, and then a duke.
James Butler was made Marquess of Ormonde in 1642. He would go on to receive two dukedoms: one in the Peerage of Ireland in 1660, and another in the Peerage of England in 1682.
His marriage to his cousin Elizabeth Preston brought together two branches of the same family. Elizabeth was a granddaughter of the third earl. Through that union, the Ormonde titles and the Ormonde estates were reunited under a single holder. After 1682, the Ormonde spelling became almost universal. The older form, Ormond without a final E, largely fell out of use. The dukedom and the earldom passed to James Butler's descendants in turn, but the elevation would not survive unchallenged into the next century.
James Butler, the second Duke of Ormonde, was attainted in 1715, and his English peerages were declared forfeit. The Irish title of Duke of Ormonde then passed de jure to his younger brother Charles, though Charles apparently did not know he held it. When Charles died in 1758, the Irish dukedom and the marquessate became extinct.
Walter Butler was created Marquess of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland in 1816. He also held an English peerage as Lord Butler of Llanthony. When Walter died, that marquessate became extinct, and the earldom passed to his brother. A new Marquessate of Ormonde was created for that brother in 1825. That marquessate survived until 1997, when it became extinct, and the earldom became dormant. Well before that endpoint, one holder of the title had made a determined attempt to recover the lost dukedom.
In October 1868, the third Marquess of Ormonde wrote to Benjamin Disraeli, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He was asking for the restoration of the Dukedom of Ormonde. The letter drew on family history stretching back several decades. Lord Ormonde argued that his grandfather, the first Marquess, had received advice from Lord Liverpool when Liverpool was Prime Minister. Liverpool had counseled that recovering the dukedom required a preliminary step: elevation from earl to marquess. That step had been taken. But Lord Liverpool lost the premiership in 1827, and the plan stalled. The first Marquess took no further action toward the dukedom.
The third Marquess also alleged something about his father, the second Marquess. The second Marquess, he claimed, had resolved not to pursue the dukedom restoration unless another peer was simultaneously elevated to a dukedom. That condition was apparently never met. Disraeli replied on the 27th of October 1868. He expressed sympathy with Lord Ormonde's desire to restore "the title of an illustrious ancestor." But his letter implied that the political climate made a new dukedom inappropriate. Disraeli noted that "the condition of the party," meaning the Conservative Party, "is now critical." The Dukedom of Ormonde was never restored. The Viscounts Mountgarret were considered the presumed successors to the dormant earldom. They descended in the male line from a younger son of the eighth earl. Neither the seventeenth nor the eighteenth viscount submitted a claim to the Monarch, leaving the earldom awaiting a claim that has not yet come.
Common questions
When was the earldom of Ormond first created?
The earldom of Ormond was first created in 1328 for James Butler. It covered a substantial block of territory in the south of Ireland, anchored in what is now County Kilkenny. The Butler family held the title for most of its long history.
Why did Thomas Boleyn hold the title Earl of Ormond?
Thomas Boleyn received the earldom of Ormond following Piers Butler's resignation in 1528, primarily because his daughter Anne was the mistress of King Henry VIII. His genealogical claim was slim: he was a maternal grandson of the seventh earl. On his death, both the earldom and the related Wiltshire title became extinct, as his son George had already been executed for treason.
What did Piers Butler receive after resigning the earldom of Ormond in 1528?
Piers Butler was created Earl of Ossory just five days after resigning his rights to the earldom of Ormond in 1528. He was then restored as Earl of Ormond through a new creation in 1538. A parliamentary act in 1544 declared that the 1538 creation was not a new grant but a continuation of the original 1328 earldom.
Who was the first Duke of Ormonde?
James Butler was the first Duke of Ormonde. He was made Marquess of Ormonde in 1642, Duke of Ormonde in the Peerage of Ireland in 1660, and Duke of Ormonde in the Peerage of England in 1682. His marriage to his cousin Elizabeth Preston, granddaughter of the third earl, reunited the Ormonde titles with the Ormonde estates.
When did the Marquessate of Ormonde become extinct?
The Marquessate of Ormonde created in 1825 became extinct in 1997, and the earldom became dormant at the same time. An earlier Marquessate, created in 1816, had already become extinct on the death of its holder. The presumed successors to the dormant earldom are the Viscounts Mountgarret, though neither the seventeenth nor the eighteenth viscount submitted a claim to the Monarch.
Did the third Marquess of Ormonde succeed in restoring the Dukedom of Ormonde?
The third Marquess of Ormonde did not succeed in restoring the Dukedom. Benjamin Disraeli replied on the 27th of October 1868 and expressed sympathy with the desire to restore "the title of an illustrious ancestor," but implied the political climate made a new dukedom inappropriate. The Dukedom of Ormonde was never restored.