James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, (October 19, 1610–July 21 1688), was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier. He is best known for his involvement in the Irish Confederate Wars of the 1640s, when he commanded the English Royalist forces in Ireland.

Early Life

James Butler was the eldest son of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, and of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Poyntz, and the grandson of Walter, 11th Earl of Ormonde. The Butlers of Ormonde were an Old English (Ireland) dynasty who had dominated the south east of Ireland since the middle ages. He was born in London. On the death of his father by drowning in 1619, the boy was made a royal ward by James I, removed from his Roman Catholic tutor, and placed in the household of George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he stayed until 1625, when he went to live in Ireland with his grandfather. This was very important for Butler's future life, as it meant that, un;ike almost all his relatives in the Ormonde dynasty, he was a Protestant. This made his relationship with the rest of his family and dependents somewhat strained, as they suffered from land confiscations and legal discrimination on account of their religion, while he di not. In December 1629, he married his cousin, the Lady Elizabeth Preston, daughter and heiress of Richard, Earl of Desmond, putting an end to the long-standing quarrel between the families and united their estates. In 1632, on the death of his grandfather, he succeeded to the earldom.

Related Topics:
Old English (Ireland) - London - 1619 - James I - Roman Catholic - George Abbot - Archbishop of Canterbury - Protestant - December - 1629 - 1632

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