The Butler family and the Irish Community resident in Cadiz: gateway to de West Indies in the eightteenth

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Cadiz was one of the preferred destinations for many Irish who were forced to leave their country in modern times due to the Protestant domination of Ireland. The harsh penal laws stripped many nobles of land, titles and the ability to study or pursue military careers if they did not renounce the Catholic religion. France and Spain were the two preferred destinations as they were traditionally Catholic countries. One of those families that decided to settle in Andalusia in the south of Spain, specifically in the capital city of Cadiz, was the Butler family, whose roots went back to the twelfth century in Ireland and of which there are still descendants in Cadiz and in the rest of Spain, as well as in other continents, without ever forgetting their origin in the Celtic country of their origin. RESUMEN: Cádiz fue uno de los destinos preferidos por muchos irlandeses que se vieron obligados a abandonar su país en tiempos modernos debido a la dominación protestante de Irlanda. Las duras leyes penales despojaron a muchos nobles de tierras, títulos y la posibilidad de estudiar o seguir carreras militares si no renunciaban a la religión católica. Francia y España eran los dos destinos preferidos por ser países tradicionalmente católicos. Una de esas familias que decidió establecerse en Andalucía, en el sur de España, concretamente en Cádiz capital, fue la familia Butler, cuyas raíces se remontaban al siglo XII en Irlanda y de la que aún quedan descendientes en Cádiz y en el resto de España, así como en otros continentes, sin olvidar nunca su origen en el país celta de su origen.