As you enter the Main Hall of Kilkenny Castle today one of the most striking portraits on display on the right hand side is of James Butler (1774 -1838) 1st Marquess (3rd creation), 19th Earl of Ormonde and Chief Butler of Ireland. In the portrait, the Marquess...
John Butler (1808 – 1854), 20th Earl and 2nd Marquess of Ormonde was born in Dublin and like other members of his family he was educated at Harrow and then Christchurch Oxford. Like his father James Butler (1774 -1838) he was elected a Whig M.P. for Kilkenny (1833...
The Theatre and the Dukes of Ormonde Throughout his long and eventful life James Butler (1610 -1688), First Duke of Ormond showed a keen interest in the theatre. At a young age while in London, his biographer Thomas Carte (1686 – 1754) recalled that his family were in...
Drunkenness, debauchery, and devil worship – Ireland’s Hellfire clubs Despite its infamy, the organisation known as the Hellfire Club was relatively short-lived in Ireland. The group was founded in Ireland in 1737 and effectively disbanded by the early 1740s. However,...
Bullets on the Battlements, the 1922 attack on Kilkenny Castle Kilkenny Castle has a rich and varied history and one of the most dramatic events occurred relatively recently when possession of the castle was contested by Irish troops who were split by their support or...
The Early Courtship of James Butler and Elizabeth Preston. “Anonymous Account of the Early Fife and Marriage of James Butler First Duke of Ormond” “The Journal of the Kilkenny and South East of Ireland Archaeological Society, New Series, Vol. 4 No.2 (1863) and from...
