Elizabeth, Lady Thurles

Who is Elizabeth, Lady Thurles?

Elizabeth Poyntz, daughter of Sir John Poyntz of Iron Acton in Gloucestershire, became Lady Thurles in 1608 when she married Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, son of Walter, 11th Earl of Ormond. Apparently, the marriage was against her father-in-law's wishes.

Some sources say that she lived in Thurles Castle from this marriage until her death, except for a short period during the rule of Cromwell — she was a Catholic Royalist. It is not clear, however, that she could have returned to Thurles Castle because Lewis writes that "this castle, during the parliamentary war, was garrisoned for the King, but was afterwards taken by the parliamentarian forces, by whom it was demolished". On the other hand, Lady Thurles may have returned to a newer building on or close to the site of the castle which may also have been called Thurles Castle; Grose, writing in 1791, and Armitage, writing in 1912, seem to imply that a building called Thurles Castle still existed in their times.

She and Lord Thurles had three sons and four daughters before he drowned on 15 December 1619, when the ship carrying him to England was wrecked off the Skerries near Anglesey. This was shortly after the start of his father's long imprisonment in the Fleet Prison in London and Thomas had been on his way to answer charges of treason for having garrisoned Kilkenny.