New Paperback Edition 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 recognised 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. Preferring to collaborate with the monarchy rather than resist it, the Butler earls reaped great benefits from royal favour, gaining grants of land and office and securing a lasting influence over the implementation of crown policy in Ireland. As their national status grew so they increased their power-base in Co. Kilkenny, developing stronger patron-client ties with many of the local Old English and Gaelic gentry.