Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran

Richard Butler, 1st Earl of Arran, Baron Butler of Cloughgrenan, Viscount Tullogh (1639–1686) was an Irish peer, the fourth son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde.

Richard was born on 15 July 1639, probably at Kilkenny Castle. He was the fifth son of James Butler and his wife Elizabeth Preston. His father was then the12th Earl of Ormond but would be elevated to marquess and duke. The Butlers were an Old English family. Thomas's mother was a second cousin once removed of his father as she was a granddaughter of Black Tom, the 10th Earl of Ormond. Her father, however, was Scottish, Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond, afavourite of James I. Both his parents were Protestants. They married on Christmas Day 1629. They had 10 children, eight sons and two daughters, but five of the sons died in childhood.

Richard appears below among his siblings as the second of the children that grew up to adulthood:

1. Thomas (1634–1680), predeceased his father, but had a son who would become the 2nd Duke;
2. Richard (1639–1686), the subject of this article;
3. Elizabeth (1640–1665), married Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield and had affairs with James Hamilton and the Duke of York;
4. John (1643–1677), became the Earl of Gowran; and
5. Mary (1646–1710), married William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire.

On 13 May 1662 he was created Baron Butler of Cloughgrennan, Viscount Tullogh and Earl of Arran (having purchased the Aran Islands) in the Peerage of Ireland, with a special remainder to his younger brother John should his own male line fail.

Arran married twice. Both brides were rich heiresses. In September 1664 he married Mary Stuart, Baroness Clifton in her own right, daughter of James Stuart, 1st Duke of Richmond and 4th Duke of Lennox. She died in 1668 childless at the age of 16.

He married secondly Dorothy, daughter of John Ferrers of Tamworth Castle and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Dudley Carleton. They had four children:

1. James (1674–1676), died in infancy;
2. Thomas (1675–1681), died in infancy;
3. Charlotte (1679–1725), his only surviving child and heiress, who married Charles, 4th Baron Cornwallis; and
4. Thomas (1681–1685), died in infancy.

On 27 August 1673, as a reward for his bravery in the sea-fights against the Dutch in the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Lord Arran, as he was now, was created Baron Butler of Weston in the Peerage of England.

In 1680, when the Catholic nobleman William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford was tried for high treason in the bogus Popish Plot, Arran was one of 31 peers who voted Stafford not guilty. As the most junior English peer, Arran was the first to cast his vote; his vote of "not guilty" took some courage, given the prevailing hysteria whipped up against anyone who cast doubt on the veracity of the supposed Plot. However, 55 peers voted Stafford guilty.

Arran was made Lord Deputy of Ireland in April 1682 when his father, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, went to England, and held the post until August 1684 when his father returned. This honour came to him because his elder brother Ossory, who had been deputy from 1668 to 1669 had died in 1680.

Arran died of pleurisy in London on 25 January 1686 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. As he died without surviving male issue, and his brother John had died before him, his titles became extinct. His only daughter, Charlotte, inherited the, estate which she brought her husband when she married Lord Cornwallis in 1699.

However, the three Irish titles were re-created in 1693 for his nephew Charles Butler, who would be created Baron Butler of Cloughgrenan, Viscount Tullough, and Earl of Arran of the 1693 creation.

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