THE PURCELL FAMILY’S CONNECTION WITH THE BUTLER FAMILY OF ORMOND
The first part of the attached Purcell history (in .pdf format) explains in some detail the extent to which the Purcells of Co. Tipperary and Co. Kilkenny, in their first five centuries in Ireland, owed their position to the Butlers of Ormond.
In the Middle Ages, the Purcells held Loughmoe and the manor of Corketeny from their feudal overlords, the Butlers of Ormond. Sir Hugh Purcell, first Baron of Loughmoe (d. 1240) acquired Loughmoe and many other knights’ fees upon his marriage circa 1220 to Beatrix Butler, daughter of the 1st Chief Butler of Ireland (the head of the Butler family). In 1305, Sir Hugh’s grandson, also called Sir Hugh Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe (‘Dominus Hugo de Purcell’), held Corketeny from his cousin Edmund Butler, 6th Chief Butler of Ireland (and father of the 1st Earl of Ormond), in return for military service.
In a March 1338 inquisition held weeks after the death of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond, it was confirmed that John Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe had held several knights’ fees in Corketeny from the 1st Earl in return for ‘5 [pounds] of royal service when scutage runs, a sparrowhawk yearly, and doing suit at court.’ In 1362, the manors of Loughmoe, Corketeny and Ikerrin held by yet another Hugh Purcell were forfeited to the Crown, and King Edward III thereupon transferred them to his first cousin once removed, James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, who then granted a life interest in two of the manors to Geoffrey Roth Purcell and Geoffrey, son of John Mór Purcell.
The oldest portion of Loughmoe Castle was built between 1444 and 1494, probably by James Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe and his wife, a Butler. James fought in the 1460s in support of the Butler lordship against troops of the Earl of Desmond. In a deed signed at Loughmoe in March 1518, Thomas Purcell, who used the title of ‘Baron of Loughmoe and Corketeny,’ confirmed that he held his lands from Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond ‘as his ancestors had and held them from old times, to have and to hold to the Earl and his heirs.’
Loughmoe Castle passed out of the hands of the Purcell family following the deaths in 1722 and 1737, respectively, of the last Baron of Loughmoe, Colonel Nicholas Purcell, and his widow. The last Baron’s father, James Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe married a Butler (Elisabeth Butler, sister of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde and 12th Earl of Ormond), as did his grandfather, Theobald Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe (Ellen Butler, daughter of the 12th Baron Dunboyne).
In 1967 an organization was begun in Kilkenny called The Butler Society, with the aim of preserving Butler records, manuscripts and history and of bringing together Butlers and those interested in the history of the Butlers. The Butler Society publishes a scholarly journal of high quality containing articles which should be of interest to families, such as the Purcells, who were closely allied with the Butlers. We encourage Purcells to visit The Butler Society’s website (https://butlersociety.org) and to consider membership. The success of The Butler Society directly inspired the formation in 2021 of The Purcell Society, which has goals similar to those of The Butler Society: that is, to commemorate Purcell history, preserve Purcell documents and bring Purcells and Purcell descendants together.
The late Hubert Butler (1900-1991), the extraordinarily gifted intellectual, writer and essayist, was the co-founder and chairman of The Butler Society. In a letter dated 4 May 1983, Hubert Butler, referring to the Butlers and the Purcells, wrote, ‘It is astonishing to me that no scholarly studies -or very few- have been made of these old Irish families.’ As to the Purcells, we hope the attached history will start to address that deficiency. Hubert Butler also expressed in this letter the hope that one day there might be a Purcell Society and societies of other families closely associated with the Butlers.
St. Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny: Tomb of Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond (1467-1539) and his wife Margaret FitzGerald. Following the death of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, his distant cousin Piers claimed the Ormond title as the nearest male heir. In England, Anne Boleyn’s father, Sir Thomas Boleyn (whose mother Lady Margaret Butler was a daughter of the 7th Earl) also claimed the title. Henry VIII awarded the title to Boleyn and in recompense created Piers as 1st Earl of Ossory. After the Boleyns fell from favour, however, Henry VIII recognized Piers as the rightful 8th Earl of Ormond. As stated above, in 1518 Thomas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe signed a deed confirming that he held Loughmoe and Corketeny from Piers, 8th Earl of Ormond, in the same manner that his Purcell ancestors had done from old times.