Baron Dunboyne was a title first held by the Petit family some time after the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...

History

Dunboyne Dunboyne () is a town in County Meath, Ireland, north-west of Dublin city centre. It is a commuter town for Dublin. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitan ...

was part of the

Lordship of Meath The Lordship of Meath was an extensive seigneurial liberty in medieval Ireland that was awarded to Hugh de Lacy by King Henry II of England by the service of fifty knights and with almost royal authority. The Lordship was roughly co-extensive wit ...

. The Petit family also had land holdings in

Mullingar Mullingar ( ; ) is the county town of County Westmeath in Ireland. It is the third most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, Midland Region, with a population of 22,667 in the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census. The Counties of M ...

. In 1227, Ralph Petit became

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

. In that capacity, he founded a priory of the Blessed Virgin in Mullingar and he endowed this establishment with the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Kilbraynan (or Kilbrena) in Dunboyne, along with the rectory of Dunboyne, its tithes and other ecclesiastical revenues. A century later, Thomas Butler, son of Theobald Butler, 4th Chief Butler of Ireland, married Sinolda, heiress of William le Petit. In 1324, Butler was created

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Dunboyne by prescription. In this way, the Dunboyne properties and titles passed to the Butlers. In 1541, the barony was created by patent in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. The barons are alternately numbered from the early 14th century by numbers ten greater than the number dating to the patent (e.g. the 28th/18th Baron Dunboyne died May 19, 2004). The first baron of this sequence in turn married the heiress to an earlier line of Barons Dunboyne. The family seat is Argo Hill House, near

Rotherfield Rotherfield is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Wealden District, Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It is one of the largest parishes in East Sussex. There are three villages in the parish: Rotherfield, Mark ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

Barons Dunboyne (1324)

Kiltinan Castle, Fethard, County Tipperary, was the seat of the barons until the

Reformation in Ireland The Reformation in Ireland was a movement for the reform of religious life and institutions that was introduced into Ireland by the English Crown at the behest of King Henry VIII of England. His desire for an annulment of his marriage was known ...

. * Thomas Butler, 1st Baron Dunboyne (died October 1329) * Pierce (Piers) Butler, 2nd Baron Dunboyne (died 08/05/1370) * Thomas "MacPiarais" Butler, 3rd Baron Dunboyne (died 11/07/1370) * William Butler, 4th Baron Dunboyne (died 1406) * Pierce Butler, 5th Baron Dunboyne (died 1415) * Edmond Butler, 6th Baron Dunboyne (died 1419) * James Butler, 7th Baron Dunboyne (died 1445),

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of Tipperary until 1457 * Edmond Butler, 8th Baron Dunboyne (died 1498), Seneschal of Tipperary from 1457 to 1478 * James Butler, 9th Baron Dunboyne (died 1508), Seneschal of Tipperary from 1478 to 1505 * James Butler, 10th Baron Dunboyne (died 1538)

Barons Dunboyne (1541)

*Edmond Butler, 1st/11th Baron Dunboyne (died 1566), the son of the 10th baron, was elevated to the peerage on 11/06/1541.''Burke's Peerage'', p.1212 *James Butler, 2nd/12th Baron Dunboyne (died 1624) * Edmond Butler, 3rd/13th Baron Dunboyne (died 1640), grandson of the 2nd baron *James Butler, 4th/14th Baron Dunboyne (died 1662) *Pierce Butler, 5th/15th Baron Dunboyne (died 1690) *James Butler, 6th/16th Baron Dunboyne (died 1701) *Pierce Butler, 7th/17th Baron Dunboyne (died 1718) *Edmond Butler, 8th/18th Baron Dunboyne (died 1732) *James Butler, 9th/19th Baron Dunboyne (died 1768) *Pierce Butler, 10th/20th Baron Dunboyne (died 1773) *Pierce Edmond Creagh Butler, 11th/21st Baron Dunboyne (died 1785) * John Butler, 12th/22nd Baron Dunboyne (1720–1800), son of the 20th baron *James Butler, 13th/23rd Baron Dunboyne (1780–1850) * Theobald Fitzwalter Butler, 14th/24th Baron Dunboyne (1806–1881) (elected a Representative Peer in 1868) *James Fitzwalter Clifford-Butler, 15th/25th Baron Dunboyne (1839–1899) * Robert St John Fitzwalter Butler, 16th/26th Baron Dunboyne (1844–1913) (elected a Representative Peer in 1901) *Fitzwalter George Probyn Butler, 17th/27th Baron Dunboyne (1874–1945) *Patrick Theobald Tower Butler, 18th/28th Baron Dunboyne (often known as Paddy Dunboyne; 1917–2004) (Headed the Irish Peers Association) *John Fitzwalter Butler, 19th/29th Baron Dunboyne (1951–2013) *Richard Pierce Theobald Butler, 20th/30th Baron Dunboyne (b. 1983) The

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is the present holder's son Hon. Caspian Fitzwalter Butler.

Notes

References

Attribution