Sir Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond and 4th Earl of Ossory (1559–1633), succeeded his uncle Black Tom, the 10th earl, in 1614. He was called "Walter of the Beads" because he was a devout Catholic, whereas his uncle had been a Protestant. King James I intervened and awarded most of the inheritance to his uncle's Protestant daughter Elizabeth. Ormond contested the King's decision and was for that insolence detained in the Fleet Prison from 1619 until 1625 when he submitted to the King's ruling. He then found a means to reunite the Ormond estate, by marrying his grandson James, who had been raised a Protestant, to Elizabeth's only daughter.
Butler was brought up as a devout Catholic and was known as "Walter of the Beads"[7] (Irish: "Váitéar an Phaidrín").[8]
His father, John of Kilcash, died on 10 May 1570 when Walter was about eleven.
[6] His brother James inherited but died unmarried sometime before September 1576 when Walter became the owner of the land around Kilcash Castle that had been his father's appanage.[9]
Butler worked closely with his uncle, the Earl of Ormond.[10] As a reward for his military service with the earl, he was knighted by Adam Loftus and Robert Gardiner in 1598.[11]
His uncle, Black Tom, the 10th Earl died on 22 November 1614[29] leaving an only daughter, Elizabeth, who had married Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond. Butler, his nephew, succeeded as the 11th Earl of Ormond and expected to also inherit the estates, but his claim to the family estates was challenged by Richard Preston, the husband of the 10th Earl's only child. The dispute was arbitrated by King James I, who awarded most of the estate, including Kilkenny Castle, to Preston. Ormond, as he now was, spent much time and money in litigation opposing the King's decision. His persistence resulted in him being committed to the Fleet prison in 1617.[30] He remained incarcerated for eight years in great want with no rents reaching him from his estate. James meanwhile challenged his ownership of the county palatineofTipperary with a writ of quo warranto (by what right?). This county had been vested in the head of the family for nearly four hundred years and could therefore under no circumstance have belonged to his cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Richard Preston. No answer was made to the writ, if indeed an opportunity was afforded for an answer, and James took the county palatine into his own hands.
Ormond was freed in 1625 and large parts of his estates were restored to him.[31] For some while he lived in a house in Drury Lane, London, with his grandson James, afterwards Duke of Ormond. In 1629, on the projected marriage of his grandson with Elizabeth Preston, Preston's only child, Charles I of England granted her marriage and the wardship of her lands to him by letters patent dated 8 September. After the marriage Ormond was recognised, on 9 October 1630, heir to the lands of his uncle, Earl Thomas, as well as of Sir John Butler of Kilcash, his father.
Ormond also suffered problems within his own family. His son Thomas, styled viscount Thurles, married the daughter of Sir John Poyntz of Gloucestershire against his wish. In 1619 Thomas was accidentally drowned at The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey,[32] at the beginning of Walter's long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison. Viscount Thurles had been a prominent Catholic and at the time of his death, was being sent to England on charges of having garrisoned Kilkenny.
Ormond died at Carrick-on-Suir on 24 February 1633 and was buried in St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, on 18 June 1633.[33] His eldest son having predeceased him, he was succeeded by his grandson, James Butler, later the 1st Duke of Ormond.
^This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne.[1] Also see the lists of his sons and daughters in the text.
^Older literature give his year of birth as 1569.[3][4]
^Cokayne 1895, p. 149, line 2. "He was b. 1569 and distinguished himself against the rebel Irish in 1599."
^Airy 1886, p. 86. "Butler, Walter, of Kilcash, eleventh Earl of Ormonde (1569–1633)"
^Debrett 1828, p. 640. "Theobald le Boteler on whom that office [Chief Butler of Ireland] was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
^ abcBurke & Burke 1915, p. 1549, right column, line=57. "3. John of Kilcash, to whom his father granted lands by deed, 26 May 1544; m. [married] Katherine, dau. [daughter] of Cormac MacCartie, the MacCartie Reagh, and d. [died] 10 May 1570 ..."
^French 1846, p. 26. "... was not ... his grandfather ... Walter earl of Ormond, for his devotion stiled Walter of the beads and rosarie?"
^ abEdwards 2004, p. 231, left column, line 1: "He [Walter] emerged as heir to the Kilcash estate in co. Tipperary some time before September 1576 after the death without issue of his brother ..."
^Armstrong 2009, 1st paragraph. "He served with his uncle in the later stages of the nine years war ..."
^Shaw 1906, p. 94. "1597-9, Jan. 22. Walter Butler, son and heir to John Butler, ... in St. Patrick's Church by Adam Loftus, archybishop of Dublin, and Sir Robert Gardiner ..."
^Lodge 1789a, 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 ..."
^Burke 1866, p. 443, left column, line 68. "II. Pierce of Monalargy, co. Waterford, who m. [married] Catherine, 4th dau. [daughter] of Walter, Earl of Ormonde."
^Lodge 1789a, p. 38, line 40. "Hellena, to James Butler of Grellagh, Esq.; eldest son of James, second Lord Dunboyne by his second wife, Margaret, daughter of Connor, Earl of Thomond."
^Lodge 1789a, p. 39, line 4. "Joan, to George Bagenal of Dunleckney, in the county Carlow, Esq.; ancestor to Beauchamp Bagenal, of that place, Esq."
^Lodge 1789a, p. 39, line 8. "Elizabeth, married first to Sir Edmond Blanchville, of Blanchville's Town, by whom she had Gerald, who dying before them, 21 February 1646, she created a monument to his memory in the cathedral of Kilkenny; and secondly to Richard, sixth Earl of Clanrickard."
Flood, John (2020). Kilcash and the Butlers of Ormond: Conflict and Kinship from the Middle Ages to the Great Famine. Dublin: Geography Publications. ISBN978-0-906602-94-2. — Google Books no preview