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Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde, also known as the 10th Earl was born circa 1531 and died on 22 November 1614. He was a son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormonde and Lady Joan FitzGerald. He was Lord Treasurer of Ireland and a very prominent personage during the latter part of the 16th century. He was a Protestant and threw his great influence on the side of the Queen Elizabeth I and her ministers in their efforts to crush the Irish rebels, but he was perhaps more anxious to prosecute a fierce feud with his hereditary foe, the Earl of Desmond, this struggle between the two factions desolating Munster for many years. His successor was his nephew Walter Butler (1569-1633).
He married, firstly, with Hon. Elizabeth Sheffield, daughter of John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield, without issued.
He married Elizabeth Berkeley, daughter of Thomas Berkeley, 6th Lord Berkeley and Anne Savage. They had three children:
- James Butler, Viscount Thurles (b. 1584)
- Elizabeth Butler (b. b 1593-1628), married, firstly, Theobald Butler, 1st and last Viscount Butler, son of Sir Edmund Butler and Hon. Eleanor Eustace, without issued. She married, secondly, Sir Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond, had one daughter.
- Thomas Butler (b. b 1601-1606)
He married Hon. Helena Barry, daughter of David Barry, 5th Viscount Barry, without issued.
References
"Thomas Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormonde"