James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond

Lieutenant-General His Grace The Duke of Ormond KG
Portrait by Peter Lely
Chancellor of the University of Oxford
In office 4 August 1669 – 1688
Preceded by	Gilbert Sheldon
Succeeded by	The 2nd Duke of Ormond
Lord High Steward
In office 29 May 1660 – 13 February 1689
Monarchs	Charles II, James II
Preceded by	The 1st Duke of Richmond
Succeeded by	The 1st Duke of Devonshire
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office 24 May 1677 – 24 February 1685
Monarch	Charles II
Preceded by	The 1st Earl of Essex
Succeeded by	The 2nd Earl of Clarendon
In office 21 February 1662 – 7 February 1668
Monarch	Charles II
Preceded by	The 1st Duke of Albemarle
Succeeded by	The 6th Earl of Ossory
In office 30 September 1648 – 22 June 1649
Monarch	Charles I
Preceded by	Viscount Lisle
Succeeded by	Oliver Cromwell
In office 13 November 1643 – 9 April 1646
Monarch	Charles I
Preceded by	2nd Earl of Leicester
Succeeded by	Viscount Lisle
Personal details
Born	(1610-10-19)19 October 1610 Clerkenwell, London, England
Died	21 July 1688(1688-07-21) (aged 77) Kingston Lacy, England
Resting place	Westminster Abbey, London
Spouse	Elizabeth Preston, Baroness Dingwall
Children	Thomas, Richard, Elizabeth, John, & others
Parent(s)	Thomas, Viscount Thurles Elizabeth, Lady Thurles
Education	Trinity College Dublin
Military service
Branch/service	English Army Irish Confederates
Years of service	1639–1651
Rank	Commander-in-chief, General, Commandant
Battles/wars	Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639—1651) Second Bishops' War, 1st Siege of Drogheda, Battle of Kilrush, Battle of New Ross, Battle of Rathmines, 2nd Siege of Drogheda.

Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was an Anglo-Irish statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661.^[a] Following the failure of the senior line of the Butler family, he was the second representative of the Kilcash branch to inherit the earldom.

His friend, the Earl of Strafford, secured his appointment as commander of the government army in Ireland. Following the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, he led government forces against the Irish Catholic Confederation; when the First English Civil War began in August 1642, he supported the Royalists and in 1643 negotiated a ceasefire with the Confederation which allowed his troops to be transferred to England. Shortly before the Execution of Charles I in January 1649, he agreed the Second Ormonde Peace, an alliance between the Confederation and Royalist forces which fought against the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.

During the 1650s he lived in exile on the continent with Charles II of England. After the Stuart Restoration in 1660, Ormond became a major figure in English and Irish politics, holding many high government offices such as Chancellor of the University of Oxford.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).