Elizabeth Butler, Countess of Desmond

Elizabeth Butler, countess of Desmond and Lady Dingwall (c. 1585-1625) was the only daughter of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, or Black Tom, and his second wife, Elizabeth Sheffield. Little is known about her early childhood but she did spend some time England near the court of Elizabeth I of England as her father was a key figure in Elizabethan politics.

As the tenth earl of Ormond had no surviving legitimate male heirs his earldom was supposed to transfer to his brother's (Sir Edmund Butler) eldest son in Cloghgrenan. This succession, however, was jeopardised by the outbreak of rebellion in 1596 by Thomas' Cloghgrenan family. Thus, in order to protect his earldom, Thomas instead arranged for Elizabeth to marry Edmund's youngest son, Theobald, her cousin, who was too young to be implicated in the plot. They received official permission from the dying queen in Christmas 1602 and soon after her death, James I ennobled Theobald as the viscount of Tulleophelim.

Despite his title, Theobald was not wealthy nor influential and he relied upon his uncle and father-in-law, Black Tom, who proved reluctant to help out the newlyweds. Theobald blamed his wife and allegedly abused Elizabeth. They remained childless and after Theobald's death in 1613 the earldom of Ormond passed to Black Tom's newly anointed preferred heir, Walter Butler, the future eleventh earl of Ormond.

Financially destitute, Elizabeth had to find another husband. In the Autumn of 1614 she married Sir Richard Preston, Lord Dingwall a courtier from Scotland despite her father's disapproval. Black Tom died soon after and he was succeeded by Walter Butler. Preston, therefore, challenged this succession and on 3 October 1618 Elizabeth and her spouse were awarded more than half of the Ormond estate, including Kilkenny castle, although it was several years before they were able to take up residence there due to the obstruction of Walter's lawyers.

In July 1619, Preston and Elizabeth were ennobled as the earl and countess of Desmond.

Tensions between Elizabeth and her family members led to her departure from Ireland in August 1624 and she appears never to have returned. She died on 10 October 1628 and was eventually buried in Westminster Abbey. Her husband, Richard, drowned at sea on the way to her funeral. Their surviving daughter, Elizabeth Preston, would later marry her cousin, James Butler, future twelfth earl and first duke of Ormond.

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