Butler of Tipperary
The Butler association with Cahir began with James Gallda Butler, the illegitimate son of the 3rd. Earl of Ormonde who was born around the year 1400. His mother was Catherine, the daughter of the Earl of Desmond.
James Gallda, of Cahir, was appointed by his brother, the 4th Earl of Ormonde, to be the keeper of the county with the right to maintenance of the necessary troops.[1] This appointment was disastrous as James Gallda had his own agenda and was closely involved with the Desmonds who were rivals of the Ormondes in Munster.
This rivalry ripened into enmity when the War of the Roses broke out in England between the Houses of York and Lancaster. The Ormondes supported the House of Lancaster and the Desmonds that of York. That bitter English war found expression in Ireland when the forces of the Butlers of Ormonde and the Fitzgeralds of Desmond fought a battle at Pilltown in 1462. On that occasion the Ormondes were defeated. This long running dispute continued intermittently until 1565 when the last private battle fought in Ireland took place at Affane, Co. Waterford. The Desmonds were defeated on that day.
[1] Eoghan O’Neill The Golden Vale of Ivowen
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