Elizabeth Butler, Countess of Desmond.

About Elizabeth Butler, Countess of Desmond

Elizabeth Preston, Countess of Desmond and 2nd Baroness Dingwall was the only daughter of Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, called Black Tom, a lone Protestant in his Catholic Old English family. Her marriage and inheritance were manipulated by James I to keep Black Tom's inheritance out of the hands of his Catholic successor, Walter of the Beads and bring them into the hands of his Scottish favourite Richard Preston, Lord Dingwall.