Elizabeth Darcy, Countess of Ormond

Elizabeth Darcy, Countess of Ormond (1332- 24 March 1389), was the wife of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond, and the mother of his five children, including James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond.

Family and lineage

Elizabeth was born in 1332 at Platten, Co. Meath, Ireland, the daughter of Sir John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Knaith, Lord Justice of Ireland, and his second wife Joan de Burgh. Elizabeth had a brother Sir William Darcy, who married Catherine FitzGerald, by whom he had issue. She also had numerous half-siblings from her parents' previous marriages. Her father's first wife was Emeline Heron, by whom he had eight children, including his heir, John Darcy, 2nd Baron Darcy of Knaith. Elizabeth's mother's first husband had been Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare, by whom she had three sons, John FitzGerald, Richard FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Kildare, and Maurice FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare.

Elizabeth's paternal grandparents were Roger Darcy and Isabel d'Aton. Her maternal grandparents were Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and Margaret de Burgh, daughter of Sir John de Burgh and Hawise of Lanvaley.

One of her maternal aunts was Elizabeth de Burgh, wife of Robert the Bruce.

Marriages and children

On 15 May 1346, when Elizabeth was 14, she married her first husband James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond (4 October 1331- 18 October 1382), the son of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond and Lady Eleanor de Bohun. He was Constable of Dublin Castle in 1349, and Chief Governor of Ireland. He was known as the Noble Earl, however, the Irish called him The Chaste.

James and Elizabeth had five children:

1. Ralph Butler
2. Eleanor Butler (died 1390), married Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, by whom she had issue.
3. James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond (died 6 September 1405), before 17 June 1386, married Anne Welles, daughter of John Welles, 4th Lord Welles and Maud de Ros, by whom he had issue, including James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond.
4. Thomas Butler
5. Catherine Butler (born 1361), married firstly, Thomas Reade, by whom she had one son, Richard, and secondly, Thomas Fleming of Slane.

Following the Earl of Ormond's death in October 1382, Elizabeth married secondly, Sir Robert de Hereham.

References

1. www.Tudorplace.com.ar/DARCY
2. www.Tudorplace.com.ar/BUTLER
3. Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Ormond
4. the peerage.com