Thomas Butler 10th earl of Ormonde

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Ormond, ‘Black’ Tom Butler, 10th earl of (1532–1614), the most adept magnate survivor of the Tudor conquest. The upbringing of this handsome distant cousin of royalty as a Protestant at court was the key to his success, establishing him as one of Elizabeth I's favourites. This gave him the influence to resist any governor who threatened his interests, at a time when many New Englishmen targeted him as a great obstacle to reform. The queen made him her commander in Munster at the close of the second Desmond War and her lieutenant‐general of Ireland in 1597 during the Nine Years War. He executed these commissions with a mixture of conciliation (protections and pardons) and ruthlessness (frequent use of martial law) even towards his close relations.

Restrained by the queen from curbing Ormond after Affane, Sidney took advantage of the involvement of the earl's brothers in the first Desmond revolt. Ormond put down their outbreak with ferocity, pulled strings to get Sidney recalled, and had his brothers pardoned in 1574. When Sidney returned with a vengeance in 1575, imposing Francis Lovell, a draconian New English sheriff, on Kilkenny, the earl was involved in his sacking in 1578. During the Nine Years War Ormond used royal military power to keep his own territories free of conflict. When he was captured by Owney O'More in 1600, the local gentry raised £3,000 for his release and seventeen of the most prominent stood hostage. After Elizabeth's death, central government pressure on Ormond's territories increased. He died a Catholic in 1614.

Hiram Morgan

Thomas Butler Ormonde, 10th earl of 1532–1614, Irish nobleman. Brought up at the English court, he was the first of his family to embrace Protestantism. He succeeded to the earldom of Ormonde in 1546, and in 1554 he went to Ireland, where he tried to mediate between the Irish and their English rulers. He became involved in a bitter quarrel in Munster with Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th earl of Desmond , the representative of the traditional enemies of the Ormondes, as a result of which Desmond was imprisoned. Ormonde was at the court of Elizabeth I (1565–69) and returned to Ireland only because his presence there was essential to maintain order. When Desmond (who had been released in 1573) rose in rebellion in 1579, Ormonde was made military governor of Munster and led the fight against the Desmond faction until the rebellious earl was captured and slain (1583). In 1588, Ormonde helped to capture the survivors of the Spanish Armada on the coast of Ireland, and in 1597 he was made lieutenant general of Ireland and supported the English troops against Hugh O'Neill, 2d earl of Tyrone . In 1612 he became vice admiral of Ireland.

Ormond, Thomas Butler, 10th earl of [I] (1531–1614). ‘Black Tom’ Ormond inherited the title from his father at the age of 15 and was brought up as a protestant at the English court. From 1559 he was treasurer of Ireland and in 1588 was given the Garter, for zeal in tracking down the survivors of the Spanish Armada. Much of his life was spent campaigning in Ireland, in the 1560s and the 1580s against the earls of Desmond (Fitzgerald), his family's rivals, and in the 1590s with Essex against Tyrone. He died aged 83 having been blind for many years.

J. A. Cannon