Career
He was a cousin of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormonde. The Butlers had backed the losing side in the Wars of the Roses and Ormonde"s brother James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormonde had been attainted for treason as a result, but the 6th Earl was quickly pardoned by King Edward IV, who greatly admired him. He was also bailiff of the manors of Solihull and Yardley.
In 1492 he was sent back to Ireland as Master of the Rolls in Ireland.
lieutenant is unclear what legal qualifications, if any, he had (the Master of the Rolls at that time was not always a qualified lawyer, as his duties were primarily administrative). His appointment was part of a campaign by the new Tudor dynasty to curb the power of the Anglo-Irish gentry, which included nearly all the judges, who had openly backed the pretender Lambert Simnel and were now suspected of aiding another pretender, Perkin Warbeck.
Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, once all-powerful in Ireland, was disgraced and between 1492 and 1494 those judges who were his nominees were removed. From 1496 on Kildare gradually regained much of his influence, and Butler was removed from the Mastership that year.
His date of death is not recorded.
