James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond (4 October 1331 – 18 October 1382) was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland. He was Lord Justice of Ireland in 1359, 1364, and 1376, and a dominant political leader in Ireland in the 1360s and 1370s.
The son of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond and Lady Eleanor de Bohun, James was born at Kilkenny Castle and given in ward on 1 September 1344 to Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond for the fine of 2,306 marks; and afterwards to Sir John Darcy who married him to his daughter Elizabeth. He was usually called The Noble Earl, being a great-grandson, through his mother, of King Edward I of England.[1] He died at Knocktopher Castle in Kilkenny, Leinster, Ireland.