Pierce Butler, 4th Viscount Ikerrin

Pierce Butler, 4th Viscount Ikerrin (c. 1677 – 1711), was an Irish peer, politician and professional soldier who rose to the rank of brigadier general under Queen Anne.

His mother's father was a Cromwellian army officer who purchased his estate in County Kilkenny from his brother-in-law, Captain John Joyner, who had begun his career as a cook in the household of King Charles I.

[1] His grandfather, the 2nd Viscount, was a convert to the Church of Ireland, but his father and at least one of his aunts, Elizabeth (who married Sir John Meade, 1st Baronet), reverted to the Roman Catholic faith.

[1] It is often said that Pierce "sat" in the Irish House of Lords in that Parliament, but since he can scarcely have been more than twelve years old at the time, he was presumably only present by proxy.

In order to take his seat, he was required to swear the Oath of Supremacy, recognising King William III of England as Head of the Church of Ireland: this suggests that Pierce, like his grandfather, conformed outwardly to the Anglican communion.