She had inherited her share of the Ormond estate through her mother, Elizabeth Preston, who was Black Tom's daughter and only surviving child.

Her husband had inherited his share from his grandfather Walter Butler, 11th Earl of Ormond, Black Tom's successor in the earldom.

He was a page at the Scottish court and became a favourite of James VI of Scotland, who made him a groom of his bedchamber[3] and ennobled him by creating him Lord Dingwall in 1609.

[4][5] Elizabeth's mother was the only surviving child of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, called Black Tom.

[7] Her family was Old English and descended from Theobald Walter, who had been appointed Chief Butler of Ireland by King Henry II in 1177.

Black Tom, had settled most of his estate on his male heir, his nephew Walter, who succeeded him as Earl of Ormond in 1614, according to the normal rules of succession of his title.

The ancient Anglo-Irish family of the Earls of Desmond - from which Elizabeth was in part descended through her mother - had rebelled against the English crown and been stripped of that title in the 1580s.

[17] As the only child, Elizabeth inherited all her parents' part of the Ormond estate, which included Kilkenny Castle and the County Palatine of Tipperary.

[19] Elizabeth and James had at least ten children, but only five survived into adulthood:[20] As a consequence of the marriage, the Ormond estate was reunited as her grandfather, the 10th Earl, had owned it.

[30] On the outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, while her husband took command of the king's army in Dublin, she was living at Carrick-on-Suir where she was soon surrounded by the insurgents.

When the city appeared to be menaced by a siege by the Confederates after Owen Roe O'Neill's victory in the Battle of Benburb in June 1646,[33] she also helped to reinforce Dublin's defences.

As in 1648 he renewed his support for the royalist cause, Lady Ormond moved to Caen, France, where she arrived on 23 June 1648 with all her five children.

Following the restoration of Charles II, Lady Ormond sent her husband political information from Ireland, and the couple were later reunited in England.

Lady Ormond hosted entertainment and spent lavishly on restoring and improving the family estates, but her personal correspondence[44] reveals that she was concerned about the debts of her husband and sons.