The Ormond Branch of the Butler Family Helped Establish One of Ireland’s Leading Schools
In 1538, Piers Butler, the 8th Earl of Ormond, and his wife, Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, established Kilkenny College to the west of St. Canice’s Cathedral in Kilkenny, Ireland. The school was furthered through the patronage of James Butler, the 1st Duke of Ormonde, in 1667.
In recognition of the Butler family’s contributions, the college derived a coat of arms almost identical to the ones used by the Butlers of Ormond.
It also adopted the Butler family motto, comme je trouve, which means “as I find” in French. The motto is intended to encourage grit, striving through adversity, and meeting life’s challenges head-on.
Famous Kilkenny College students include:
- Jonathan Swift (1668-1745), author of Gulliver’s Travels and many other works. Encyclopaedia Britannica considers Swift the foremost prose satirist in the English language.
- Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753), philosopher, Bishop of Cloyne, and benefactor of Yale University. Berkeley, California is named after him.
Today, Kilkenny College is the largest co-educational boarding school in Ireland and serves as a local school for day pupils from Kilkenny and the surrounding area.
Primary Sources:
- Kilkenny College.
- Comerford, Patrick. “Former Kilkenny College building is an elegant presence on River Nore,” September 1, 2018.
- Image (Kilkenny College Coat of Arms): By Coat_of_arms_Hogwart_with_motto.svg Meuble_lion.svg CC BY-SA 3.0.
