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.
Family tree
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.[a]
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,[5] and his second wife Elizabeth Sydenham (died 1595). His wife's family were English Catholics.[b]
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.[27] 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,[28] 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[29] until he succeeded his grandfather as the 12th Earl of Ormond.[30] Thurles's widow survived him for more than 50 years.[28]
Notes and references
Notes
^This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne.[1] Also see the lists of children in the text.
^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.[6]
^Bernard Burke lists the daughters as: Helena (married MacCarty), Ellen (married Aylmer), Mary (married Hamilton), and Elizabeth (married Purcell).[11]Lodge lists them as Ellen (married MacCarty), Elizabeth (married Purcell), Mary (married Hamilton), and Eleanor (married Aylmer).[12]
^Their eldest son, Charles (or Cormac), was born between 4 June 1633 and 3 June 1634 as he died on 3 June 1635,[16] aged 31.[17]
^Debrett 1828, p.
640. "Theobald le Boteler on whom that office [Chief Butler of Ireland] was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
^Edwards 2004, p.
231, left column, line 7. "About 1584 he married Ellen (d. [died] 1631) daughter of Edmund Butler, second Viscount Mountgarrett ..."
^Lodge 1789, p.
38, line 27. "He [Walter] married Hellena, eldest daughter of Edmond, the second Viscount Mountgarret ... having issue by her (who died 28 January 1631 ..."
^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."
^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."
^Lodge 1789, p.
39, line 30. "John who died unmarried at Naples, on his travels, in 1636."
^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 ..."
^Lodge 1789, p.
39, line 16. "Thomas, Lord Thurles ... three sons and four daughters, viz. ... (1) Daughter Ellen ... (2) Elizabeth ... (3) Mary ... (4) Eleanor ..."
^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."
^G. E. C. 1913, p.
215, line 4. "He [Donough MacCarty] m. [married], before 1648, Eleanor, sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, da. [daughter] of Thomas Butler styled Viscount Thurles, by Elizabeth da. of Sir John Pointz."
^G. E. C. 1913, p.
215, line 13. "He [Charles (Cormac)] d. v.p. [predeceased his father] being slain on board 'the Royal Charles' in a sea-fight against the Dutch, 3, and was bur. [buried] 22 June 1665 in Westm. [Westminster] Abbey."
^Lainé 1836, p.
76, line 1. "... dans un combat naval livré aux Hollandais, le 13 juin 1665 [N.S.] à l'âge de trente-et-un ans."
^G. E. C. 1900, p.
231, line 31. "He [Andrew Aylmer] m. [married], in 1634 Ellen, sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, da. [daughter] of Thomas Butler, styled Viscount Thurles, by Elizabeth, da. of Sir John Poyntz."
^Lodge 1789, p.
40, line 16. "Eleanor, married to Sir Andrew Aylmer, of Donadea in the county of Kildare, Baronet."
^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."
^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. [married] (art. dated 2 June 1629) Mary 3rd dau. [daughter] of Thomas Viscount Thurles and sister of the 1st Duke of Ormonde. He d. [died] 1679. She d. Aug 1680 ..."
^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."
^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; ..."
^Burke 1866, p.
210, left column. "John Fitz-Patrick, Esq., of Castletown, doctor of laws, who m. [married] Elizabeth, 4th dau. [daughter] of Thomas, Viscount Thurles, sister of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde, and widow of James Purcell, baron of Loughmoe, by whom (who d. [died] 6 December 1675) ..."
^Rigg 2004, p. 915. "... not as was formerly thought, the son of John Fitzpatrick of Castletown, Queen's County."
^
abG. E. C. 1895, p.
149, line14. "He [Thurles] d. v.p. [predeceasing his father], being drowned off the Skerrieds 15 Dec. 1619. His widow m. [married] George Mathew, of Thurles, and d. [died] at Thurles. May 1673 in her 86th year."
^Carte 1851, p.
7. "... his father, upon whose decease he [James Butler] was by courtesy styled viscount Thurles."
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.
OCLC865941166.