Pierce Butler, 4th Viscount Ikerrin
Pierce Butler, 4th Viscount Ikerrin (c. 1677 – 1711), was an
Early life
He was the elder of the two sons of James Butler, 3rd Viscount Ikerrin, and his wife Eleanor Redman, daughter and co-heiress of Colonel Daniel Redman of Ballylinch Castle,
Pierce was born at his mother's family home, Ballylinch Castle, between 1677 and 1679. He was educated at
Jacobite
James II was deposed after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and fled to France, and from there invaded Ireland. He summoned a Parliament, generally called the Patriot Parliament, at Dublin, in 1689.[1] It is often said that Pierce "sat" in the Irish House of Lords in that Parliament, but since he can scarcely have been more than twelve years old at the time, he was presumably only present by proxy. Even his notional attendance was enough to have him outlawed as a supporter of James after the ruin of James's cause at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. However the great Butler dynasty, of which the Butlers of Ikerrin were a junior branch, did not suffer as a result of James's downfall, and Pierce had plenty of influential Protestant relatives to plead on his behalf. Presumably, they argued that the political beliefs, if any, of a small boy are not worth troubling about. In any case, his outlawry was reversed in 1698: Pierce was restored in his title and took his seat in the House of Lords in October 1698. Since a peer would not normally take his seat in the Lords until he came of age, this suggests that 1677 is the most likely year of his birth.
In order to take his seat, he was required to swear the
Military career
Like his father and his mother's father, he became a professional soldier. He was a Colonel of Foot from 1700 to 1705, and subsequently a Colonel of
He died in early January 1711 at Rathbarry Castle in County Cork, presumably while on a family visit, as the Freke family of Rathbarry Castle were his close relatives.
Marriage and children
He married firstly the Honourable Alicia Boyle, daughter of
- James Butler, 5th Viscount Ikerrin.[5]
He married secondly Olivia St. George, daughter of Sir Oliver St George, 1st Baronet, by his wife Olivia Thornton, and the widow of the prominent statesman Sir Robert Colville of Newtown House, Newtownards, but had no further issue. His widow, who made a third marriage to a Mr. Wroth of Epsom, Surrey, was buried at St James, Westminster, on 29 January 1723/4.[3][6]
The 5th Viscount died young in 1712, and the title reverted to his uncle Thomas Butler, 6th Viscount Ikerrin.[1] The next generation of Butlers gained the title Earl of Carrick, which they still hold.
References
Sources
- Brewer, James Norris. History of Leinster, Taylor and Co. London 1829.
- Biographical Peerage of Ireland London 1817.
- Burke's Peerage, 107th edition, Delaware 2003.
- Childs, John. General Percy Kirke and the Later Stuart Army, Bloomsbury Publishing, London 2014.
- Grace, Sheffield; and Hall, Samuel Carter. Memoirs of the Family of Grace, vol. 1, London 1873.
- Hart, A. R. History of the King's Serjeant-at-law in Ireland, Dublin, Four Courts Press 2000.
- Kenyon, J. P. The Popish Plot, Phoenix Press reissue 2000.