Butler family
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The Butler family was a prominent Anglo-Irish noble family in Ireland. Key figures include:
- Piers Butler, 8th earl of Ormonde (c. 1467–1539): He revived the Butler influence by claiming the earldom and estates, fighting for the English against Irish rebels. He was later made earl of Ossory and then re-granted the earldom of Ormonde.1
- Thomas Butler, 10th earl of Ormonde (1531/32–1614): He sided with the English during rebellions and served as lord treasurer of Ireland. He played a significant role in suppressing rebellions in Munster and other parts of Ireland.2
- William Butler Yeats: The renowned poet's father, John Butler Yeats, was a barrister and portrait painter, and his mother came from a merchant family in Sligo.3
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IrelandThe Reformation period…of the power of the Butlers of Ormonde; Piers Butler, earl of Ossory, helped to secure the enactment of royal (instead of papal) ecclesiastical supremacy by the Dublin Parliament of 1536–37. As a further step in shedding papal authority, in 1541 a complaisant Parliament recognized Henry VIII as king of…
Read More…of the power of the Butlers of Ormonde; Piers Butler, earl of Ossory, helped to secure the enactment of royal (instead of papal) ecclesiastical supremacy by the Dublin Parliament of 1536–37. As a further step in shedding papal authority, in 1541 a complaisant Parliament recognized Henry VIII as king of…
Read More- IrelandThe Shane O’Neill rebellion
Butlers and Munster Fitzgeralds also combined forcibly to resist the plantations. The only gleam of statesmanship shown in these years by Henry Sidney, lord deputy (1565–71, 1575–78), was that he managed to avoid a major combination against the government’s religious policy. The Butlers were induced…
Read MoreButlers and Munster Fitzgeralds also combined forcibly to resist the plantations. The only gleam of statesmanship shown in these years by Henry Sidney, lord deputy (1565–71, 1575–78), was that he managed to avoid a major combination against the government’s religious policy. The Butlers were induced…
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