Joan Butler, Countess of Ormond

Joan Butler (née de Beauchamp), 4th Countess of Ormond (1396 – 3 August 1430) was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, the first wife of Irish peer, James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and the mother of his five children. Their principal residence was Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny, Ireland.

Family

Joan de Beauchamp was born in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales in 1396, the daughter of William de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Bergavenny and Lady Joan FitzAlan (1375- 14 November 1435).^[1] She had a brother Richard de Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester, 2nd Baron Bergavenny ( born before 1397- 18 March 1422). He married Lady Isabel le Despenser (26 July 1400- 1439), by whom he had one daughter Elizabeth de Beauchamp, Lady of Abergavenny.

Joan's paternal grandparents were Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick and Katherine Mortimer, and her maternal grandparents were Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel and Elizabeth de Bohun. .

Marriage and issue

On or before 28 August 1413, Joan married James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (April or May 1391 Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny- 22 August 1452 Ardee, Co. Louth), the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond and Anne Welles.^[2] He was known as the White Earl, and esteemed for his learning and patronage of the arts. He was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1405, and later Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The Earl and Joan's principal residence was Kilkenny Castle in Kilkenny, Ireland. They had five children:

• James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, 1st Earl of Wiltshire KG, (24 November 1420- 1 May 1461), married firstly Avice Stafford, daughter of Sir Richard Stafford and Maud Lovell, and secondly Eleanor Beaufort, daughter of Sir Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Eleanor de Beauchamp. He was an ardent supporter of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses, and a favourite of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou. There was speculation that he was the actual father of Margaret's son Edward, Prince of Wales.^[3] He was beheaded at Newcastle by the Yorkists after the Battle of Towton. His head was afterwards displayed on London Bridge.
• John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond (1422–1478), he never married but fathered an illegitimate son by an unknown Irish mistress, James Dubh Butler, who left descendants.
• Elizabeth Butler (1432- 8 September 1473), married John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, son of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Maud Nevill, by whom she had seven children, including John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Lady Eleanor Talbot
• Ellen Butler
• Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond (c.1426- 3 August 1515), married firstly Anne Hankford (1431- 13 November 1485), daughter of Sir Richard Hankeford and Anne Montagu, by whom he had two daughters:

1. Margaret Butler, (c.1454- 1539) wife of Sir William Boleyn of Blickling. Through their son Sir Thomas Boleyn, Margaret and Sir William were the grandparents of Queen consort Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary Boleyn.
2. Anne Butler (born c.1455), wife of Sir James St.Leger, by whom she had issue.

Thomas Butler married secondly, Lora de Berkeley, by whom he had a daughter.

Death

Joan de Beauchamp died in Dublin on 3 August 1430 at the age of 34. Her husband married secondly, in 1432, Lady Joan Fitzgerald, daughter of Gerald Fitzgerald, 5th Earl of Kildare and his 1st wife Margaret Rocheford. The second marriage was childless. James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond died on 22 August 1452 in Ardee and was buried in St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin.

Ancestry