Thomas O'Brien Butler

Thomas O’Brien Butler (3 November 1861 – 7 May 1915; lost on the Lusitania), was an Irish composer who wrote the Irish-language opera Muirgheis (1903). Biography O’Brien Butler, as he was generally known, was born in Caherciveen, County Kerry, the youngest child of Pierce Butler (c.1804–1873), a shopkeeper in the village, and Ellen Webb (c.1818–1876). There is no source for his correct surname. Baker’s Dictionary indicates that his surname was Whitwell; when he registered at the Royal College of Music in London, his name was noted as Thomas Whitwell-Butler. He does not seem to have been directly related to another O’Brien Butler family from Ireland who lost three brothers in World War I. He does however claim heritage to Lady Margaret O’Brien in his collection Seven Original Irish Melodies dedicating the first song ‘Kincora; or the Lament for King Brian’ to “My Great Mother Lady Margaret O’Brien, daughter of Donough O’Brien, Earl of Thomond.” Before going to London he grew up in an environment steeped in traditional music. His musical education began in Italy, After around 1900 he mainly lived in Kilmashogue, in the mountains above Rathfarnham, Dublin, in a house he had called Muir