Piers Butler, eighth earl of Ormonde

Piers Butler 8th Earl of Ormond
Arms of the Butler Family
Hereditary
Earl of Ormond	1515-1539
Predecessor	Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond
Successor	James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond
Detail Titles and styles 8th Earl of Ormond 1st Earl of Ossary
Born	1467
Died	26 August 1539
Family	House of Butler
Spouse	Lady Margaret FitzGerald
Issue James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond Richard Butler, 1st Viscount Mountgarret Thomas Butler Margaret Butler Catherine Butler Joan Butler Ellice Butler Eleanor Butler Helen Butler Illegitimate Children Edmund Butler
Father	Sir James Butler
Mother	HRH Sabh Kavanaugh, Princess of Leinster
Occupation	Peerage of Ireland

Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Ossory (1467 – 26 August, 1539) also known as (Irish Piers Ruadh) Red Piers, was from the Polestown branch of the Butler family of Ireland.

He was the son of Sir James Butler, Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord of the Manor of Advowson of Callan (1438-1487) and Sabh Kavanagh, Princess of Leinster, daughter of Donal Reagh Kavanagh, MacMurrough, King of Leinster (1396-1476).He married Lady Margaret FitzGerald, daughter of Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and had 9 children by that marriage: 3 sons and 6 daughters.

During the prolonged absence from Ireland of the earls, his father Sir James Butler (d.1487) had laid claim to the Ormond land and titles. This had precipitated a crisis in the Ormond succession when the seventh earl later died without a male heir. On 20 March 1489, King Henry VII appointed him High Sheriff of County Kilkenny. He was knighted prior to September 1497. The following year (1498) he seized Kilkenny Castle and with his wife, Margaret FitzGerald (d.1542), the dynamic daughter of the earl of Kildare, probably improved the living accommodation there. On 28 February 1498 he received a pardon for crimes committed in Ireland, including the murder of James Ormonde, heir to the 7th Earl. He was also made Senechal of the Liberty of Tipperary on 21 June 1505, succeeding his distant relation, James Butler, 9th Baron Dunboyne. On the death of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormonde on 3 August 1515, Piers Butler became the 8th Earl of Ormond. On 6 March 1522, the King appointed him Chief Governor of Ireland as Lord Deputy; he held this office until 13 May 1524 when he became Lord Treasurer.