Piers Butler

Piers Butler, gentleman, of Nodstown, Co. Tipperary. Piers lived from 1558 to 1627, dying on 21 February 1627, and was buried at Holy Cross Abbey, not far from Loughmoe. Piers was the only son of Walter Butler, 4th son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and younger brother of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond. Piers Butler of Nodstown was married to Ellen Purcell, daughter of Thomas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe and sister of two Barons of Loughmoe, Ralph Purcell and Richard Purcell. According to the drawing and to the Funeral Entry, Piers bore the traditional Butler coat of arms (Or, a chief indented azure – that is, a blue dented stripe at the top of a gold or yellow shield), with a black martlet (a bird, like a swallow) for differencing. (In heraldry, a martlet was often used to designate a fourth son. Thus, these were the arms originally borne by Piers’s father, Walter Butler, 4th son of the 9th Earl of Ormond.) The arms of Piers’s wife Ellen Purcell were the traditional arms of the Barons of Loughmoe (Or, a saltire between four boars’ heads couped sable). The letters on the black-and-white sketch identify the colours applicable: ‘B’ for blue or azure, ‘O’ for ‘or’ (gold or yellow), and ‘S’ for sable (black). Sources: ‘Coats of Arms From the Funeral Entries’ [taken from the Journal of the Association for the Preservations of the Memorials of the Dead in Ireland, vol. 7 (1907-1909) and vol. 8 (1910-1912) (coat of arms no. 616)] [a volume published by the Irish Memorials Association (undated) and in the National Library, Dublin, call number A13471); Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales (London, 1884), pp. 154, 829; Edmund Curtis, editor, Calendar of Ormond Deeds (Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1970), vol. VI, pp. 51-52; and Lodge’s Peerage of Ireland (1789), vol. 4, p. 28.