Earl of Richmond rather than the English crown. It was then held either by members of the English royal families of Plantagenet and Tudor, or English nobles closely associated with the English crown. It was eventually merged into the English crown during the reign of Henry VII and has been recreated as a Dukedom. The title Earl of Richmond is associated with the now extinct Earldom, the earlier Lords of Richmond who held the Honour of Richmond, one of the most important fiefs in England, and eventually the Dukes of Richmond. The title Earl evolved from the French-Breton-Norman title Count ("Comte") from the
Edmund Butler, 1st Earl of Kilkenny Edmund Butler, 1st Earl of Kilkenny Edmund Butler, 1st Earl of Kilkenny, 12th Viscount Mountgarret (6 January 1771 – 16 July 1846) was created Earl of Kilkenny on 20 December 1793. The son of Edmund Butler, 11th Viscount Mountgarret and Henrietta Butler, he was thus a member of the powerful Butler Dynasty descended from the illustrious House of Butler of Ormond, who purchased and resided at Kilkenny Castle from 1391 to 1967. He married Mildred Fowler, daughter of Robert Fowler, Archbishop of Dublin, without issue. On his death the Earldom thus became extinct and his nephew, Henry Edmund Butler, became