Edward Butler (Irish judge)

Edward Butler (died 1745) was an Irish judge who served as a Justice of the Court of King's Bench in Ireland.

Butler was a member of a prominent Roman Catholic family of Ballylinch, County Kilkenny. Despite the Penal Laws, which restricted the careers of Catholics, he was able to practice law, though not at the highest levels. He appears to have enjoyed a reputation for integrity and legal knowledge, which allowed him to bypass the strictures of the law to some extent.

His appointment to the King's Bench in 1737 was controversial, given his religious background. Some contemporaries viewed it as a political gesture intended to pacify Catholic opinion, while others suspected a secret, albeit unlikely, conversion. There is no firm evidence that he ever renounced his faith.

Butler served on the King's Bench until his death in 1745. His tenure was relatively uneventful. He is primarily remembered for the circumstances surrounding his appointment and the debate it generated at the time, rather than for any specific legal rulings or contributions to jurisprudence. His appointment remains a curious episode in the history of the Irish judiciary, highlighting the tensions between legal restrictions based on religious affiliation and the realities of political expediency.