James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond

Alfred Webb

A Compendium of Irish Biography

1878

Butler, James, 9th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Ossory, succeeded on the death of his father in 1539. Seven years before, he had been made Lord-Treasurer, to balance the power of the Earl of Kildare, then Lord-Deputy. In 1534 he had been entrusted with the custody of all the ports of Ireland, as Admiral of the kingdom; and was afterwards created Viscount Thurles, and specially commissioned to proceed against Irish insurgents and take them into protection where desirable. The period of the Reformation is marked by his engaging "to resist the usurpations of the Bishop of Rome." Henry VIII. granted him additional estates in various parts of the country. In 1545 he headed a body of Irish troops in the King's service in Scotland. Upon his return in 1546, a dispute with the Earl of Lennox necessitated reference to the King in London. On 17th October he attended a feast at Ely House, Holborn, By some means the viands were poisoned. Seventeen of his servants died, and he succumbed eleven days afterwards, 28th October, 1546. He was interred in London, amongst some of his ancestors, in the church of "St. Thomas d' Acres," but his heart, according to his desire, was deposited in St. Canice's, Kilkenny. He had a numerous family by his wife Joan, a daughter of James Earl of Desmond.

Sources

271. Ormond, Duke of, Life 1610-'88: Thomas A. Carte, M.A. 6 vols. Oxford, 1851.

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