Edward Butler (Australian politician)

During the Great Famine he became a journalist and supported Young Ireland as the editor of the Galway Vindicator.

Young Ireland attempted to build an Irish national movement that included Catholics and Protestants and campaigned for a common educational system for all denominations.

He was admitted as a barrister in 1855 and was appointed as a crown prosecutor for the metropolitan and coast district in 1857.

[1] In politics Butler was a strong supporter of the "liberal party", associated with Parkes and John Robertson, including Robertson's land policy and Charles Cowper's support for the withdrawal of state aid to religion.

[3] He made a major contribution to reducing the level of sectarianism that had been sparked by Henry James O'Farrell's attack on Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh in 1868.