Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Ossory (c. 1467 – 26 August 1539) also known as Red Piers (IrishPiers Ruadh), was from the Polestown branch of the Butler family of Ireland. In the succession crisis at the death of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond he succeeded to the earldom as heir male, but lost the title in 1528 to Thomas Boleyn. He regained it after Boleyn's death in 1538.
Family tree
Piers Butler with wife, parents, and other selected relatives, among which the Boleyns.[a]
His mother, whose first name is variously given as Sabh, Sadhbh,[7] Saiv,[8] or Sabina, was a princess of Leinster, eldest daughter of Donal Reagh Kavanagh, MacMurrough (1396–1476), King of Leinster.[9]
Marriage and children
In 1485, Butler married Lady Margaret FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald fitz Maurice FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Alison FitzEustace. The marriage was political; arranged with the purpose of healing the breach between the two families.[10] In the early years of their marriage, Margaret and her husband were reduced to penury by James Dubh Butler, a nephew, heir to the earldom and agent of the absentee 7th Earl, who resided in England. Piers Butler retaliated by murdering James Dubh in an ambush in 1497. He was pardoned for his crime on 22 February 1498.
During the prolonged absence from Ireland of the earls, his father Sir James Butler (died 1487)[22] had laid claim to the Ormond land and titles. This had precipitated a crisis in the Ormond succession when the seventh earl later died without a male heir. On 20 March 1489, King Henry VII appointed him High Sheriff of County Kilkenny. He was knighted before September 1497. The following year (1498) he seized Kilkenny Castle and with his wife, Margaret FitzGerald (died 1542), the dynamic daughter of the earl of Kildare, probably improved the living accommodation there. On 28 February 1498 he received a pardon for crimes committed in Ireland, including the murder of James Ormonde, heir to the 7th Earl. He was also made Seneschal of the Liberty of Tipperary on 21 June 1505, succeeding his distant relation, James Butler, 9th Baron Dunboyne.
In March 1522, Henry VIII appointed him Chief Governor of Ireland as Lord Deputy; he held this office until August 1524 when he was succeeded by Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare. However, he held on to the position of Lord Treasurer.[24]
Loss of title
One of the heirs general to the Ormond inheritance was Thomas Boleyn, whose mother was Margaret Butler, second daughter of the 7th earl. Thomas Boleyn was the father of Anne, whose star was rising at the court of King Henry VIII of England. As the king wanted the titles of Ormond and Wiltshire for Thomas Boleyn, he induced Butler and his coheirs to resign their claims on 17 February 1528.[25] Aided by the king's Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Butler was created Earl of Ossory instead.
Restoration of title
On 22 February 1538, the earldom of Ormond was restored to him.[26]
^This family tree is based on two family trees: the condensed Butler family tree in Dunboyne[1] and the one illustrating the succession of the 7th Earl of Ormond;[2] and on genealogies of the earls of Desmond[3] and Ormond.[4]
^Beresford 2009, 1st paragraph, 1st sentence. ... his wife Sadhbh, daughter of Domhnall Riabhach Kavanagh."
^Edwards 1998, p. 51. "... as regards the Kavanaghs, Piers had made some allies among them in 1525 (partly through the influence of his mother, Saiv Kavanagh) ..."
^Hull 1926, p. 234. "Sir James Butler, who became Deputy under Edward IV, was married to an Irish wife, Sabh (or Sabina) Kavanagh, daughter of Donal MacMorrogh of Leinster ..."
^Hull 1926, p. 274. "Lady Margaret in the vain hope of healing the breach between the two families, wedded Sir Piers (or Pierce) Butler, who later became the eighth Earl of Ormonde ..."
^Graves 1857, p. 239. "Toward the end of the year Ossory lost his third son, Thomas Butler, in a petty fray with the Tanist of Macgillapatrick."
^Lodge 1789, p. 21, line 22. "Daughter, Lady Margaret, first married to Thomas, second son of the Earl of Desmond, and secondly, to Barnaby the first Lord of Upper-Ossory."
^Lodge 1789, p. 21, line 25. "Lady Catherine, first married to Richard, Lord Poer, and secondly to James, Earl of Desmond."
^Bagwell 1885, p. 305. "When the four Protestant members of Council Browne, Conformity Brabazon, Alen, and Aylmer visited Clonmel early in 1539, two archbishops and eight bishops took the oath of supremacy before them. The archbishops were Butler of Cashel and Bodkin of Tuam ..."
^Royal Descents and Pedigrees of Founders' Kin, Pedigree CXXI, by Sir Bernard Burke (1864)
^Beresford 2009, 2nd paragraph. "... was appointed deputy lieutenant (March 1522) when Surrey was recalled to England. He held that office till August 1524, when he was succeeded by Kildare. However, he retained the position of lord treasurer in an attempt to balance Kildare's authority."
^ abCokayne 1895, p. 146, line 8. "By agreement 17 Feb. 1527/8, above mentioned, he (as heir male) and his cousins, the daughters and co-heirs of the 7th Earl (as heirs general), resigned any rights to the Earldom of Ormond ..."
^Duffy 2021, p. 71. "On 22 February 1638,...,Henry VIII drew the dispute to a close by recognising Piers's claim to the earldom of Ormonde and restored him to the full title of earl of Ormonde and Ossory."
^ abCokayne 1895, p. 147. "He d. [died] 26 Aug 1539, and was bur. [buried] in the church of St. Canice, Kilkenny."
^Wright 2004, p. 151, right column, line 28. "... in 1530 he married Joan (d. [died] 1565), sole daughter and heir of James Fitzgerald, the late earl of Desmond (d. 1529)."
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology. Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.). London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society. ISBN0-86193-106-8. – (for timeline)
