Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles

Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles (before 1596 – 15 December 1619) was the son and heir apparent of Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond (1559 – 1632/3) (whom he predeceased) and Helen Butler. He resided at Thurles Castle, Thurles, County Tipperary. He was the father of the noted Anglo-Irish statesman and Royalist commander James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.

Sometime before 1610, he married Elizabeth Poyntz against his father's wishes. She was the daughter of Sir John Poyntz (d.1633) of Iron Acton in Gloucestershire and Elizabeth Sydenham.

In 1619 at the beginning of his father's long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison, Thomas was summoned to England to answer charges of treason, specifically, of having garrisoned Kilkenny. However, the ship conveying him was wrecked off the coast of The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey and he was drowned. Like his father, Viscount Thurles was a prominent Catholic and it seems likely that his refusal to conform to the established Anglican religion had angered King James I, and may have been the true motive for his summons.

His children by Elizabeth Poyntz were:

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