| Kilcash Castle | |
|---|---|
 Kilcash Castle ruin | |
| Location | 5 miles (8 km) east of Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 52°23′52″N7°31′17″W / 52.39778°N 7.52139°W |
| Built | 16th century |
  Location of Kilcash Castle in Ireland | |
Kilcash Castle is a ruined castle off the N24 road just west of Ballydine in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is in the care of the Irish State. The Butler dynasty has important links to the area.
The main castle building is a fortified tower [1] dating from the sixteenth-century. [2] An adjoining hall was added at a later date, when the need for defence gave way to the large windows associated with settled times. [3] In the sixteenth century the manor of Kilcash was taken from the Wall family after the Irish Confederate Wars and given to the Butlers of Ormond. The latter sold the castle to the Irish State in 1997 for £500. [4]
In 1614, Walter, 11th Earl of Ormond, who lived at Kilcash, inherited the Ormond title from his uncle Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond. The possession of the Ormond lands was disputed and Walter spent 1619-1625 in prison in London while James VI and I pressurised him to surrender most of his property. Walter passed the manor of Kilcash on to one of his grandsons, Colonel Richard Butler of Kilcash (d. 1701).
The 3rd Earl of Castlehaven, a noted Confederate Catholic commander in the 1641-52 wars, frequently stayed at Kilcash where his sister, Lady Frances, was married to Richard of Kilcash, another confederate commander. Lord Castlehaven wrote his memoirs there (published as The Earl of Castlehaven's Review).
In the 19th century, the castle fell into ruin after parts of the Kilcash Estate were sold c. 1800. During the Irish Civil War, the castle was occupied by Anti-Treaty forces in an attempt to slow the approach of Pro-Treaty forces towards Clonmel. They were finally dislodged by artillery fire under the command of Commandant-General John T. Prout, further damaging the already dilapidated structure. [5]
By the late twentieth century, the castle was in a dangerous state of repair. Beginning in 2011, the castle underwent extensive repairs to prevent it from collapsing. [6]
Near the castle are the remains of a medieval church consisting of a chancel and a nave with a Romanesque doorway in its south wall. This building was partially repaired in the 1980s and is now open to the public. In the graveyard, a Butler mausoleum (which is nearly as large as the church) contains the tombs of:
Some of the eighteenth-century headstones are carved with elaborate scenes of the crucifixion. [9]
The castle is best known for the song "Kilcash" (Irish : Cill Chaise), [10] which mourns the ruin of the castle and the death of Margaret Magennis, Viscountess Iveagh. The song has been ascribed to Fr John Lane (d. 1776), but the woods lamented in its first stanza were not sold until 1797 and 1801, long after Lane's death. [11] The earliest manuscripts of the poem date from the mid-nineteenth century. Its first stanza reads:
(translation by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin)
Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC, was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failure of the senior line of the Butler family, he was the second representative of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom.
Ormond Castle is a castle on the River Suir on the east side of Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland. The oldest part of the existing castle is a mid-15th century walled bawn, cornered on the northeast and northwest by towers.
Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond and 3rd Earl of OssoryPC (Ire), was an influential courtier in London at the court of Elizabeth I. He was Lord Treasurer of Ireland from 1559 to his death. He fought for the crown in the Rough Wooing, the Desmond Rebellions, and Tyrone's Rebellion. He fought his rival, Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond in the Battle of Affane in 1565.
John Butler, 17th Earl of Ormonde, 10th Earl of Ossory (1740–1795) was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament (MP). He became a Protestant in 1764. He was an Irish MP, representing Gowran between 1776 and 1783, and Kilkenny City between 1783 and 1792. In 1791, his right to the peerage was acknowledged in the Irish House of Lords and he became the 17th Earl of Ormond.
Walter Butler (1703–1783), also known as Walter Butler of Kilcash, and Walter Butler of Garryricken, was the de jure16th Earl of Ormond and 9th Earl of Ossory. He did not assume these titles, as he thought them forfeit as a result of the attainder of the 2nd Duke of Ormonde. In the peerage of Ireland, the titles were successfully claimed in 1791 by his son John, the 17th Earl.
John Butler, known as John Butler of Kilcash, a member of the Irish landed gentry, was de jure15th Earl of Ormond and 8th Earl of Ossory. He did not assume these titles as he thought them forfeit by the attainder of the 2nd Duke of Ormond. He did, however, inherit the Ormond estate from the 1st Earl of Arran through Arran's sister Amelia. In 1791, the title of Earl of Ormond would be successfully claimed by his cousin, the 17th Earl.
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.
Magennis, also spelled Maguiness or McGuinness, is an Irish surname, meaning the "son of Angus", which in eastern Ulster was commonly pronounced in Irish as Mag/Mac Aonghusa. A prominent branch of the Uíbh Eachach Cobha, the Magennises would become chiefs of the territory of Iveagh, which by the 16th century comprised over half of modern County Down. By the end of the 17th century, their territory had been divided up between them, the McCartan chiefs and English prospectors.
Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret (1578–1651) was the son of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and Grany or Grizzel, daughter of Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory. He is best known for his participation in the Irish Confederate Wars on behalf of the Irish Confederate Catholics.
William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde, PC (Ire), was an Irish peer who fought in his youth together with his brother Richard, 6th Earl of Clanricarde under their cousin, Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde against the Parliamentarians in the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. He succeeded his brother as the 7th Earl in 1666.
Iffa and Offa East is a barony in County Tipperary, Ireland. This geographical unit of land is one of 12 baronies in County Tipperary. Its chief town is Clonmel. The barony lies between Iffa and Offa West to the west, Middle Third to the north-west and Slievardagh to the north-east. It is currently administered by Tipperary County Council. The entire barony lies within the geographic remit of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore with the exception of the parish of Clerihan which is in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
John Butler of Kilcash was an Irish landowner and soldier. A younger son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and brother of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, he received Kilcash Castle as appanage. He fought in the Desmond–Ormond conflict and was badly wounded in 1563, just before the Battle of Affane. He was the start-point of the Kilcash branch of the Ormonds and the father of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond.
Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559–1633), whom he predeceased. He lived at the Westgate Castle in Thurles, County Tipperary. He was accused of treason but drowned in a shipwreck off the Skerries in the Irish Sea, before he could be judged. He was the father of the Irish statesman and Royalist commander James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.
Butler is the name of a noble family whose members were, for several centuries, prominent in the administration of the Lordship of Ireland and the Kingdom of Ireland. They rose to their highest prominence as Dukes of Ormonde. The family has produced multiple titles such as Baron Cahir, Baron Dunboyne, Viscount Ikerrin, Viscount Galmoye, Viscount Mountgarret, Viscount Thurles, Earl of Carrick, Earl of Kilkenny, Earl of Ormond, Earl of Ossory, Marquess of Ormonde and Duke of Ormonde. Variant spellings of the name include le Boteler and le Botiller. The Butlers were descendants of Anglo-Norman lords who participated in the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. The surname has its origins in the hereditary office of "Butler (cup-bearer) of Ireland", originating with Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland. The arms of later family members depicted three cups in recognition of their original office.
Richard Butler of Kilcash was an Irish soldier and landowner, the third son of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles and brother of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde. He sided with the Irish Confederacy at the Irish Rebellion of 1641. He scouted the enemy on the morning of the Battle of Cloughleagh. His descendants succeeded to the earldom of Ormond when the senior branch of the family failed in 1758.
Colonel Thomas Butler of Garryricken, also known as Thomas Butler of Kilcash was an Irish Jacobite soldier. He commanded a regiment, Thomas Butler's foot, during the Williamite War and fought at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 where he was taken captive. His son John would, de jure, become the 15th Earl of Ormond.
Elizabeth Poyntz (1587–1673), known as Lady Thurles, was the mother of the Irish statesman and Royalist commander James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.
The Battle of Cloghleagh, also known as the Battle of Funcheon Ford or the Battle of Manning Water, was fought between a Royalist force and an Irish Confederate force during the Irish Confederate Wars. It took place south of Kilworth and north of Fermoy between the River Funshion and the River Blackwater in County Cork on 4 June 1643. The result was an Irish Confederate victory.
Helen Burke, Countess Clanricarde, also styled Helen FitzGerald, was brought to France by her mother fleeing the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, against which her father, the 2nd Earl Muskerry, resisted to the bitter end. In France, she was educated at the abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs together with her cousin Elizabeth Hamilton. She married three times. All her children were by her second husband, William Burke, 7th Earl of Clanricarde. She was the mother of Ulick Burke, 1st Viscount Galway, Margaret, Viscountess Iveagh, and Honora Sarsfield.
Margaret Magennis, Viscountess Iveagh, also known as Margaret Butler, was the mother of John Butler, the de jure 15th Earl of Ormond. She is remembered by the song A Lament for Kilcash.
