James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde

James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (23 May, 1393 – 23 August, 1452) was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond. He was called 'The White Earl' and was esteemed for his learning. He was the patron of the Irish literary work, 'The Book of the White Earl'. His political career was marked by his long and bitter feud with the Talbot family.

James Butler was the second but eldest surviving son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, and Anne Welles, daughter of John de Welles, 4th Baron Welles by Maude de Ros, daughter of William de Ros, 2nd Baron de Ros of Helmsley.

He prevailed upon Henry V to create a King of Arms in Ireland, with the title of Ireland King of Arms (altered by Edward VI to Ulster King of Arms), and he gave lands in perpetuity to the College of Heralds, London. He was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1405, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1420, 1425, and 1442. He appointed James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond as Seneschal of Imokilly in 1420.

His term as Lord Lieutenant was marked by a bitter feud with the Talbot family, headed by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and his brother Richard, Archbishop of Dublin. The dispute reached its height in 1442 when Archbishop Talbot, supposedly acting on behalf of the Irish Parliament, presented the Privy Council with a long list of grievances against Ormonde, who was accused of being old and feeble (in fact he was only fifty, which was not considered a great age even in the fifteenth century), and of having lost most of his Irish estates through negligence; there were vague references to treason and "other crimes which could not be named". The Council summoned Ormonde to account for his actions: he defended himself vigorously, and made detailed counter-charges against the Archbishop. The Council took no action against him but rebuked both sides to the dispute severely for disrupting the good governance of Ireland. The feud gradually cooled off, and friendly relations between the two families were finally established by the marriage of Ormonde's daughter Elizabeth to Shrewsbury's son and heir John.