caption father death_date death_place mother birth_place image_size title birth_date spouse issue image article_title name
effigies and piers butler on their tomb inside st canice 's of cathedral , kilkenny margaret fitzgerald -lrb- in the foreground -rrb- gerald fitzgerald , 8th earl of kildare 9 august 1542 kilkenny , ireland alison fitzeustace ireland 200px '' countess of ossory '' ' ` countess of ormond '' ' '' ` circa 1473 piers butler , 8th earl of ormond james , 1st viscount mountgarret thomas butler edmund butler , archbishop butler of cashel catherine butler margaret butler joan butler eleanor butler , helen butler 9th earl of ormond richard butler margaret fitzgerald.jpg margaret fitzgerald , countess of ormond
 lady margaret fitzgerald
margaret fitzgerald , countess of ormond

margaret fitzgerald , countess of ormond , countess of ossory -lrb- born circa 1473-died 9 august 1542 -rrb- was an irish noblewoman and a member of the powerful and celebrated fitzgerald dynasty also known as `` the geraldines '' .
she married piers butler , 8th earl of ormond , by whom she had four sons and five daughters .
in 1501 , she rebuilt gowran castle .
in 1502 , she also decorated st. mary 's collegiate church gowran where her husband sir piers butler 's ancestors are buried including , edmund butler , earl of carrick and lord deputy of ireland , his son james butler , first earl of ormonde , his grandson also james butler second earl of ormonde his great grandson james butler , third earl of ormonde .
james butler , third earl of ormonde built the first castle in gowran in 1385 and made it his main residence .
he bought kilkenny castle in 1391 .
she was a patron of schools and craftsmen and also played an active role in legal affairs pertaining to the ormond estates .
she is sometimes styled the great countess of ormond or by her irish name of `` mairgread gerroid '' .
the reverend james graves in his `` history of the cathedral church of st. canice , kilkenny '' described her as having been `` unquestionably one of the most remarkable women of her age and country '' .
