Earls of Ormond

An Abbey in Dublin Unearthed

Dec 4, 2023

archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, religion

Archbishop of Dublin, bigamy, Dissolution of the Monasteries, Dublin, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Earls of Wiltshire, Edward Bruce, Edward IV, executions, Henry VIII, Ireland, James Butler, John Earl of Shrewsbury, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Mael Sechnaill mac Maele Ruanaid, pre-contract, Richard Talbot, Robert de Nottingham, St. Mary’s Abbey, Towton, Walter Champfleur

Excavations in Dublin city centre have uncovered the remains of what was once one of Ireland’s most important medieval monasteries. St Mary’s was a House of Benedictines, followed by Savignac monks and then Cistercians, and it was exceedingly wealthy, with the added bonus of being permitted to claim goods from shipwrecks. At times, it was…
Death in Drogheda: Thomas Fitzgerald, 7th Earl of Desmond

Feb 15, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Perkin”, Anglo-Norman lordships, Annals of the Four Masters, Anne Butler, Annette Carson, archers, attainder, bigamy, Burkes of Clanricarde, coyne and livery, Dame Elizabeth Corbet, de Burghs, Dictionary of Irish Biography, dispensations, Drogheda, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Kildare, Earls of Ormond, Edward IV, Edward Plunkett, Elizabeth Woodville, Elizabeth Wydeville, Ellice Barry, executions, Fitzgeralds, Henry II, Henry V, Ireland, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, John Tiptoft Earl of Worcester, Lionel of Antwerp, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Deputy of Ireland, Maurice Fitzgerald, Nesta of Wales, Pale, Peter Spring, Piltown, pre-contract, Ricardian, Sir John Butler, Sir Roland FitzEustace, South Munster, Statute of Kilkenny, Tadhg King of Thomond, The Book of Howth, The Ricardian, treason, William Shirwood

FAMILY BACKGROUND The FitzGeralds of Desmond traced their descent from Maurice FitzGerald, son of Gerald of Windsor and the Welsh princess Nest. The original Norman conquests were confined to the eastern parts of Ireland, and the Anglo-Norman lordship as created by Henry II was based on a clear division of authority between this area and…
The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

Dec 14, 2022

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, sources

“Perkin”, Act of Resumption, Anne Boleyn, Anne Welles, Archbishop Talbot, attainders, bastardy, Battle of Bosworth, Battle of Northampton, Burgundy, Butlers, Butlers of Desmond, Captain of Calais, Charles the Bold, Chief Butler of Ireland, Cockermouth Castle, consanguinity, County Kilkenny, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Edmund MacRichard Butler, Edward of Lancaster, Edward V, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Elizabeth of York, Ellice Barry, entail mail, First Battle of St. Albans, Guisnes, Henry of Buckingham, Ireland, Jerusalem, Joan Beauchamp, Joan Chaworth, justiciar of Ireland, Kilkenny Castle, Killone Abbey, languages, law studies, Lincoln’s Inn, Lord Grey of Codnor, Louis XI, Ludford Bridge, Margaret of Burgundy, marriages, Munster. Avice Stafford, naval fleet, nuns, ODNB, Peerage of Ireland, Piers Butler, Piltown, Portugal, Pronothary of Bourbon, Raghnailt, Readeption, Richard III, Rome, royal pensions, Sandwich, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sixtus IV, Statute of Kilkenny, Stephen Ellis, Tadhg King of Thomond, Thomas Earl of Desmond, Tipperary, Wars of the Roses, Waterford, Wydevilles

FAMILY BACKGROUND The Lancastrian leader who faced – or failed to face – Thomas, Earl of Desmond, at the Battle of Piltown in 1462 was the fourth of the five children born to James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (otherwise known as the White Earl), and his countess Joan Beauchamp, daughter of William Beauchamp, Lord…
Plantagenet Ireland and Poynings’ Law

Oct 22, 2019

anniversaries, battles, buildings, law, religion

“Lambert Simnel”, anecdotes, Anglesey, Art MacMurrough, Beaumaris, Charles I, coronations, Crown in Ireland Act, Drogheda Castle, Dublin Cathedral, Earls of Desmond, Earls of Ormond, Earls of Ulster, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Edmund of Rutland, Edward Bruce, Edward II, Edward of Warwick, English Privy Seal Letters, executions, finance, France, George I, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VII, Ireland, Irish Parliament, James VI/I, John Ashdown-Hill, John Earl of Shrewsbury, justiciar of Ireland, Leinster, Lieutenant of Ireland, London, Ludford Bridge, Nigel Saul, numismatics, O’Neills, Parliament, Poynings’ Law, Ralph Griffiths, repeal, Richard Duke of York, Richard II, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Scotland, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Sir Edward Poynings, Sir William de la Pole, Spain, St. James’ Park, Stoke Field, Thomas Despenser, Thomas Holland, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, turnips, Ulster, Ulster plantation, Wales, War of the Three Kingdoms

It is fair to say that most medieval English kings had little interest in Ireland except as a source of revenue. (The same was probably true about England and Wales but it seems too cynical to say it, and at least they did live there.) Prior to the Bruce invasion, Ireland yielded between £5000 and…
A familiar name

Dec 27, 2017

genealogy

convent, Earls of Ormond, Edward IV, Ireland, Ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Mail on Sunday, marriage, Nicky Haslam, Norwich, Plas Newydd, pre-contract, Sarah Ponsonby, Sir Thomas Butler, Whitefriars, widowhood

So there was I, just casually scanning the Mail on Sunday’s “You” magazine (22 October,p.23, interview with Nicky Haslam), when a familiar name popped up, a close friend of Haslam’s multiple-great-aunt. Unlike her near namesake: 1) She was a Butler by birth, not by (her first) marriage. 2) She didn’t go on to marry a…

Earls of Ormond

An Abbey in Dublin Unearthed

Death in Drogheda: Thomas Fitzgerald, 7th Earl of Desmond

The Wandering Butler: John, 6th Earl of Ormond

Plantagenet Ireland and Poynings’ Law

A familiar name