James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde

James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, 12th Earl of Ormond, 5th Earl of Ossory, 1st Marquess of Ormond, 1st Earl of Brecknock KG, PC was an AngloIrish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormonde from 1642 to 1661. Following the failure of the senior line of the Butler family, he was the second of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom. His friend, the 1st Earl of Strafford, caused him to be appointed the commander of the Cavalier forces in Ireland. From 1641 to 1647, he led the fighting against the Irish Catholic Confederation. From 1649 to 1650 he was the leading commander of the Royalist forces in the fight against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. In the 1650s he lived in exile in Europe with King Charles II of England. Upon the restoration of Charles to the throne in 1660, Ormonde became a major figure in English and Irish politics, holding many high government offices.

James Butler was the eldest son of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles and of Elizabeth, Lady Thurles, daughter of Sir John Poyntz of Iron Acton in Gloucestershire. His sister Elizabeth married Nicholas Purcell, 13th Baron of Loughmoe. Jamess paternal grandfather was Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond. He was born at Clerkenwell, London,October 1610, in the house of his maternal grandfather, Sir John Poyntz. Shortly after his birth, his parents returned to Ireland. The Butlers of Ormonde were an Old English dynasty who had dominated the southeast of Ireland since the Middle Ages.

Source: Wikipedia