James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond
James Butler carried a nickname his whole life: the Lame, or Bacach in Irish, a mark of a wound that never fully left him. He was born into a family locked in a long-running fight over one of Ireland's grandest titles. That fight eventually reached into the household of a future queen of England. The earldom his family wanted passed out of their hands, into a rival's, and back again before Butler ever held it himself. His final years were spent rebuilding his family's standing against a Lord Deputy of Ireland who resented him. His life in London then ended in a way that still puzzles historians. What forced his family to give up the title they believed was theirs? And why, given his standing, did his death draw no real inquiry?
James was born around 1496 in Ireland, the eldest son of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, and his wife Margaret FitzGerald. The couple had married in 1485, and James grew up as one of nine children in the household. His father was already a contender for the earldom of Ormond. Piers traced his line back to James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. The earldom itself was then held by a descendant, Thomas Butler, the 7th Earl.
Theobald Walter was appointed chief butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177. The Butlers, an Old English dynasty, descended from him and took their name from that office.
Margaret's family, the Geraldines, held similar rank. She was a daughter of Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and his first wife, Alison FitzEustace. That lineage would soon be tested when James, still a young man, followed King Henry VIII into a European war.
At the siege of Thérouanne in 1513, Butler was wounded in the leg while accompanying King Henry VIII to France. That wound is how he came to be called the Lame, or Bocach. The 7th Earl of Ormond died in London on the 3rd of August 1515. Piers Butler, James's father, was heir male and succeeded to the title.
Around 1520, James joined the household of Cardinal Wolsey, who described him as a young gentleman both wise and discreet. In early 1522, King Henry VIII proposed that Butler marry his cousin Anne Boleyn, the great-granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Ormond. The plan was meant to settle a dispute over the Ormond inheritance. It pitted Butler's father against Anne's father, Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. Wolsey backed the idea. For reasons that were never recorded, the negotiations stalled.
On the 18th of February 1528, King Henry forced Piers Butler to give up the earldom of Ormond, which then passed to Thomas Boleyn. The marriage that might have settled the Ormond dispute never happened. Butler's own path to marriage would lead him toward another great family entirely.
In 1530, Butler married Joan Fitzgerald, daughter and heiress of the 10th Earl of Desmond and his wife Amy O'Brien. The Desmonds were the other great landholding family of Munster, rivaling the Butlers themselves.
Their eldest son, Thomas, was born in 1531. He would succeed as the 10th Earl of Ormond, known to history as Black Tom.
Six more sons followed. Edmund of Cloughgrenan married Eleanor Eustace and had three sons, among them Theobald of Tulleophelim. John of Kilcash married Katherine MacCarty, daughter of Cormac na Haoine MacCarthy Reagh, 10th Prince of Carbery. He and Katherine had a son named Walter. Walter of Nodstown died in 1560. James of Duiske married Margaret, daughter of James Tobin. Edward of Ballinahinch married twice. His first wife was Eleanor FitzGerald, daughter of the 13th Earl of Desmond. His second wife was Mary Bourke, daughter of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde. Piers of Grantstown married Katherine, daughter of John, 2nd Lord Power of Curraghmore.
This large family would inherit not just land but an earldom still not fully secured, one Butler was still working to reclaim.
Thomas Boleyn, who now held the earldom, was also one of the heirs general to the Ormond inheritance since his mother had been a Butler. His daughter Anne's rising influence at the court of King Henry VIII strengthened the Boleyns' hold on the disputed title. With Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's help, Butler's father was granted the earldom of Ossory as a consolation.
In 1535, Butler was created Viscount Thurles. Two years later, Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Ormond, died without a son. On the 22nd of February 1538, the king restored the earldom of Ormond to Butler's father, Piers.
Piers Butler died on the 26th of August 1539 and was buried at St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny. Thurles succeeded him as the 9th Earl of Ormond. Parliament confirmed the title on the 6th of November 1541, preserving the precedence of the earlier earls. The genealogist Cokayne, in his Complete Peerage, counts him as the 10th Earl of Ormond instead, treating Thomas Boleyn's tenure as the 9th.
Esquire of the Body to King Henry VIII was Butler's first crown office, granted in 1527. He became Lord High Treasurer of Ireland in 1532, and Privy Counsellor of Ireland in 1535. He was also Admiral of Ireland between 1535 and 1539, and held the constableships of both Kilkea Castle and Carlow Castle from 1537. Records also list him as General in the Irish Forces from 1545.
Through the early 1540s, Lord Ormond gradually rebuilt the Butler dynasty's influence, drawing antagonism from Sir Anthony St Leger, the Lord Deputy of Ireland. In 1544, St Leger placed him in command of the Irish forces in the Anglo-Scottish War. Ormond's allies saw the assignment as a setup rather than an honor.
Ormond demanded an inquiry after allies accused St Leger of trying to have him killed, and the matter reached the Privy Council. The council sided with St Leger and ordered the two men to cooperate. Soon after, Ormond's allies John Alan and Walter Cowley lost their offices, and Ormond's own standing was weakening. That weakening position set the stage for a dinner in London that Ormond would not survive.
On the 17th of October 1546, Butler was in London with much of his household. They had been invited to dine at Ely Palace in Holborn. He was poisoned that day, along with his steward, James Whyte, and sixteen others from his household. Butler died eleven days later, on the 28th of October, leaving his wife Joan a widow in her thirties.
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, hosted the dinner but had no clear motive to want Ormond dead. He was known for ruthlessness toward his enemies, though he and Ormond had no quarrel. Despite Ormond's high rank, no proper investigation into his death was ever carried out, and whoever poisoned him has never been identified.
One historian has since suggested it would be an extraordinary coincidence if Sir Anthony St Leger had no hand in it. The timing removed his most persistent Irish rival at a strikingly convenient moment.
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Common questions
Who was James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond?
James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and 2nd Earl of Ossory, was an Irish nobleman born around 1496 who was confirmed as Earl of Ormond in 1541. He was known as the Lame, or Bacach in Irish, after a wound from his youth.
Why was James Butler called the Lame?
James Butler was called the Lame, or Bocach, because he was wounded in the leg at the siege of Thérouanne in 1513 while accompanying King Henry VIII to France.
How did James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond, die?
James Butler died from poison in London. He and his household, including his steward James Whyte and sixteen others, fell ill after dining at Ely Palace in Holborn on the 17th of October 1546, and Butler died eleven days later, on the 28th of October.
Who was suspected of poisoning James Butler?
No one was ever formally charged, and the source of the poisoning remains a mystery. His host, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, had no apparent motive, while a historian has since suggested Sir Anthony St Leger, the Lord Deputy of Ireland who had clashed with Butler, may have had a hand in it.
What was the dispute over the Ormond earldom that involved James Butler?
The dispute was between James Butler's father, Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, and Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, over who held the Ormond title. King Henry VIII forced Piers Butler to resign the earldom to Thomas Boleyn on the 18th of February 1528, and it was restored to the Butlers a decade later, with James confirmed as Earl of Ormond by Act of Parliament on the 6th of November 1541.
Who did James Butler marry and how many children did he have?
James Butler married Joan Fitzgerald, daughter and heiress of the 10th Earl of Desmond, in 1530. Together they had seven sons, including Thomas Butler, known as Black Tom, who succeeded as the 10th Earl of Ormond.