Page:A Compendium of Irish Biography.djvu/88

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
BUT
BUT

the degree of LL.D. at Oxford. Under James II. he was Privy-Councillor of Ireland, Lieutenant of the County of Kilkenny, and Colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Irish Horse. He served with distinction at the Boyne and Aughrim, and was one of the signers of the Treaty of Limerick. He might probably have secured his old estates of 10,000 acres in Kilkenny and 5,000 in Wexford, if he had consented to give his allegiance to William III., instead of following Sarsfield to France. On the establishment of the Irish troops in France he was made Colonel of the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse. He was at the siege of Roses in 1693, and in 1694 was Brigadier attached to the army of Germany. He served in Italy and other parts of the Continent from 1701 to 1703, sharing all the fortunes of the Irish Brigade. His son fell at Malplaquet, 1709. Viscount Galmoy died at Paris, 18th June 1740, aged 88. O'Callaghan says: "The successive claimants of the title of Galmoy were officers in France down to the Revolution; in whose armies, as well as in others, various gentlemen have honourably represented a name, of which the illustrious General Lafayette is related to have said, in the war for the independence of the United States of America, that 'whenever he wanted anything well done, he got a Butler to do it.'" 186

Butler, Pierce, American statesman, of the family of the Dukes of Ormond, was born in Ireland in 1744. An officer in the British army stationed in North America, he resigned shortly before the Revolution, and settled in South Carolina. He was a member of the old Congress in 1787; of the Convention that framed the Federal Constitution in 1788; and was Senator from South Carolina 1789-'96, and 1802-'4. He died in Philadelphia, 15th February 1822, aged about 77. 37*

Butler, Richard, Major-General U.S.A., was born in Ireland. He emigrated to America in 1760, was, in 1777, made Lieutenant-Colonel in the Revolutionary army, and distinguished himself on many occasions. He held the rank of Colonel at the close of the war, and was appointed agent for Indian affairs in Ohio. In 1791 he had risen to be a Major-General, and marched in the expedition of St. Clair against the Indians. He was tomahawked and scalped in an engagement on the 4th November of that year, 1791. Several members of the Butler family, of American birth, have distinguished themselves in the history of the United States. 37*

Butler, Richard, Viscount Mountgarret, descended from the 8th Earl of Ormond, was born in 1578, His first wife was Margaret, eldest daughter of Hugh O'Neill; and, taking part with his father-in-law, he particularly distinguished himself by the defence of the castles of Ballyragget and Cullahill. Nevertheless, his estates were confirmed to him both by James I. and Charles I. At the commencement of hostilities in 1641 he appeared inclined to espouse the Government side, and was appointed Governor of Kilkenny. Fearing, however, that the rights and liberties of his Catholic brethren would be still further interfered with, he wrote an explanatory letter to the Earl of Ormond, and took possession of Kilkenny in the name of the Confederates, He endeavoured to protect the lives and property of the Protestants, without relaxing his efforts for the side he had espoused. Early in the war he secured all the towns and forts in Kilkenny, in Waterford, and Tipperary, and marched into Munster and took Knockordan and Mallow, and other strongholds. Unfortunately for the Confederates, Cork objected to his jurisdiction, and insisted upon the appointment of a general of its own. Thus were lost the advantages of undivided and vigorous control of the Confederate armies. On 13th April 1642, he was defeated at the battle of Kilrush, near Athy, by the Earl of Ormond. Soon after, he was chosen President of the Supreme Council of Kilkenny. In 1643 he was at the battle of Ross, and at the capture, by his son Edmund, of the Castle of Borris, in the Queen's County; also at the siege of Ballynakill, a fortress that had held out bravely for eighteen months. Viscount Mountgarret was outlawed by Cromwell, and excepted from pardon for life or estate. He died in 1651, and was interred in St. Canice's, Kilkenny. His son was eventually restored to his estates and honours by Charles II. This branch of the Butlers is now represented by the 13th Viscount Mountgarret. 54 196 216

Butler, Richard, Dean of Clonmacnoise, was born near Granard, County of Longford, 14th October 1794. He was educated at Reading under Dr. Valpy; in 1814 he entered Oxford, and in 1819 received priest's orders, and was inducted vicar, of Trim. There his life was passed in attendance on the duties of his cure, and in literary and antiquarian investigations. He was intimate with the best minds of the day in his own party: Maria Edgeworth was an occasional visitor at his house. He was one of the founders of the Irish Archæological Society, for which association he edited Clyn and Bowling's Annals. Before 1840 he had brought out two 64