Helen Butler
d. 1597
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Helen Butler was the youngest daughter of the eighth Earl of Ormond and of Margaret FitzGerald, the Great Countess, and she married Donogh O'Brien, first Earl of Thomond. Her marriage is the junction at which the Butlers, and behind them the Plantagenet kings, enter the Gaelic royal house of Thomond and so this family.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (Burke's Inchiquin; web-confirmed 23 Jul 2026): HELEN (Ellen) BUTLER (1523-1597), youngest dau. of PIERS BUTLER, 8TH EARL OF ORMOND (I99710) by MARGARET FITZGERALD; m. c.1533 Donogh 'the Fat', 1st Earl of Thomond; mother of Conor 3rd Earl (our line). *** THIS IS A GENUINE PLANTAGENET / EDWARD I GATEWAY - the royal descent the Camoys route FAILED to give: the Butlers, Earls of Ormond, descend from JAMES BUTLER, 1st EARL OF ORMOND, who m. ELEANOR DE BOHUN, dau. of Humphrey de Bohun 4th Earl of Hereford by PRINCESS ELIZABETH (of Rhuddlan), DAUGHTER OF KING EDWARD I. So through Helen Butler, Aynsley descends from EDWARD I and the Plantagenets. Confirmed in principle (Ormond succession 1st->8th Earl documentable in Burke's 'Ormonde'); FLAGGED to wire the full Ormond descent from the pedigree (Piers 8th Earl was of the Polestown cadet branch, so the exact junction to the 1st Earl needs the pedigree). Her mother Margaret FitzGerald (I99711) = dau. of the 8th Earl of KILDARE - a second great gateway (the Kildare Geraldines). Direct ancestress; ROYAL descent pending the Ormond pedigree. Added 23 Jul 2026.