Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond
Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, spent decades fighting for a title that could be taken from him by royal favour just as easily as it had been granted. Known as "Red Piers" - Piers Ruadh in Irish - he was born around 1467 into the Polestown branch of the Butler family of Ireland. That branch of the Butlers was a cadet line, descended from Sir Richard Butler of Polestown, the second son of the 3rd Earl of Ormond. Piers was himself the third son, not the first in line for anything. Yet he would rise to become the most powerful Butler in Ireland, hold the offices of Lord Deputy and Lord Treasurer, and watch his family's fortunes become entangled with the ambitions of Anne Boleyn. How a third son from a junior branch of a great Irish dynasty came to hold an earldom, lost it to the father of a future queen of England, and then won it back again is a story that runs straight through the court politics of Henry VIII.
Piers came from two of the most significant families in Ireland. His father, James Butler, served as Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord of the Manor of Advowson of Callan from 1438 to 1487 - a long tenure that kept the Butler name central to Irish governance. His mother brought royal blood. Variously called Sabh, Sadhbh, Saiv, or Sabina depending on the source, she was a princess of Leinster and the eldest daughter of Donal Reagh Kavanagh, MacMurrough, who reigned as King of Leinster and was born in 1396. In 1485, the year Henry VII came to the English throne, Piers married Lady Margaret FitzGerald. She was the daughter of Gerald fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and Alison FitzEustace. The marriage was explicitly political, arranged to heal a fracture between the Butler and FitzGerald families. That healing proved immediately necessary: in the early years of the marriage, a man named James Dubh Butler - a nephew who served as agent for the absentee 7th Earl - reduced Piers and Margaret to penury. Piers settled the matter in the most direct fashion available. He killed James Dubh in an ambush in 1497. A royal pardon followed on the 22nd of February 1498. Margaret herself, described as a dynamic woman, likely had a hand in improving Kilkenny Castle after Piers seized it that same year.
On the 3rd of August 1515, Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond died without a male heir. The absence of the earls from Ireland had long been a political problem; during those years of absenteeism, Piers's father had already been pressing claims to the Ormond lands and titles. When the 7th Earl finally died, Piers, as heir male, stepped into the earldom and became the 8th Earl of Ormond. King Henry VII had appointed him High Sheriff of County Kilkenny as far back as the 20th of March 1489, and he had been knighted before September 1497. By the 21st of June 1505, he had also been made Seneschal of the Liberty of Tipperary, succeeding a distant relation, James Butler, 9th Baron Dunboyne. In March 1522, Henry VIII appointed him Chief Governor of Ireland as Lord Deputy. He held that post until August 1524, when he was replaced by Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare - a successor from the very same FitzGerald family into which he had married. He retained the position of Lord Treasurer, keeping a firm foothold in Irish administration even as the chief governorship passed to another.
Thomas Boleyn had a claim to the Ormond inheritance through his mother, Margaret Butler, who was the second daughter of the 7th Earl. That genealogical connection might have remained a minor administrative matter - except that Thomas Boleyn was the father of Anne, and Anne's position at the court of Henry VIII was rising rapidly. The king wanted the titles of Ormond and Wiltshire for Thomas Boleyn. On the 17th of February 1528, Butler and his co-heirs were induced to resign their claims. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the king's Chancellor, helped smooth the arrangement. As compensation, Butler was created Earl of Ossory. It was a real title, but it was not Ormond. The exchange placed one of England's most significant Irish earldoms in the hands of the Boleyn family precisely as Anne's influence over the king was approaching its height.
Thomas Boleyn died in 1538, and on the 22nd of February of that year the earldom of Ormond was restored to Piers. He had waited a decade. Piers Butler died on the 26th of August 1539 and was buried in St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny. He left behind a large family, including three legitimate sons and six daughters, whose marriages spread Butler connections across the Irish nobility. His eldest son James, born in 1496 and known as "the Lame", succeeded him as 9th Earl and married Lady Joan FitzGerald, daughter and heiress of the 10th Earl of Desmond. His son Richard, born in 1500, became the 1st Viscount Mountgarret and lived until 1571. His son Thomas was killed by Dermoid Mac Shane, MacGillaPatrick of Upper Ossory, leaving only a daughter, Margaret, who married twice into prominent Irish families. Among his daughters, Catherine lived from 1506 to 1553 and married twice, including to the 13th Earl of Desmond. His youngest daughter Helen, also called Ellen, was born in 1523 and lived to 1597, marrying Donough O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Thomond. Piers also had an illegitimate son, Edmund Butler, who became Archbishop of Cashel and conformed to the established religion in 1539 - the same year his father died.
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Common questions
Who was Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond?
Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, also known as Red Piers or Piers Ruadh, was an Irish nobleman born around 1467 from the Polestown branch of the Butler family. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lord Treasurer, and his tenure as earl was interrupted when he was required to surrender the title to Thomas Boleyn in 1528.
Why did Piers Butler lose the Earldom of Ormond to Thomas Boleyn?
Henry VIII wanted the titles of Ormond and Wiltshire for Thomas Boleyn, whose mother was Margaret Butler, second daughter of the 7th Earl of Ormond, and whose daughter Anne was rising at the English court. On the 17th of February 1528, Butler and his co-heirs were induced to resign their claims, with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey facilitating the arrangement. Butler was created Earl of Ossory as compensation.
When did Piers Butler regain the Earldom of Ormond?
The earldom of Ormond was restored to Piers Butler on the 22nd of February 1538, following the death of Thomas Boleyn in that same year. Butler had held the substitute title of Earl of Ossory for a decade before regaining Ormond.
Who was Piers Butler's wife and why was their marriage significant?
Piers Butler married Lady Margaret FitzGerald in 1485, the daughter of Gerald fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare. The marriage was explicitly political, arranged to heal the breach between the Butler and FitzGerald families, two of the most powerful dynasties in Ireland.
Where was Piers Butler buried and when did he die?
Piers Butler died on the 26th of August 1539 and was buried in St Canice's Cathedral in Kilkenny. He had only regained the Earldom of Ormond the previous year, in 1538.
Who succeeded Piers Butler as Earl of Ormond?
Piers Butler was succeeded as 9th Earl of Ormond by his eldest son James, born in 1496 and known as James the Lame. James married Lady Joan FitzGerald, daughter and heiress of the 10th Earl of Desmond, and lived until 1546.