Ormond Lordship

During the 16th century Ireland was dominated by a handful of great feudal dynasties controlling entire regions of the country by ancestral descent and military might. It is generally recognized that by the beginning of the 17th century several of these dynasties had collapsed, forced into rebellion and exile by the re-emerging power of the English monarchy. This book tells a contrasting story - of the Butlers, earls of Ormond, a dynasty that managed not only to survive but to profit from the growth of English royal power.