Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde
Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde (also Richard de Burgh) (English: /dˈbɜːr/; d'-BER; English: /klænˈrɪkɑːrd/; klan-RIK-ard; 1572 – 12 November 1635) was an Irish nobleman and politician.
Richard Burke (Richard de Burgh) | |
|---|---|
| Earl of Clanricarde | |
.png.webp) Arms of de Burgh/Burke of Clanricarde: Or, a cross gules in the first quarter a lion rampant sable[1] | |
| Tenure | 1601–1635 |
| Predecessor | Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde |
| Successor | Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde |
| Born | 1572 |
| Died | 12 November 1635 |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Issue Detail | Ulick Burke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, & others |
| Father | Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde |
| Mother | Honora Burke |
He was the son of Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde and Honora Burke. Knighted in 1602 for his exploits as leader of the English cavalry during the Battle of Kinsale, he would later serve as Governor of Connaught from 1604 to 1616, and as a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. Having established himself as the largest and most influential landowner in Connacht, his later life was characterized by animosity between him and an increasingly hostile and acquisitive Dublin government.
Birth and origins
Richard was born in 1572, the second but first surviving son of Ulick Burke[2] and his wife Honora Burke. His father was the 3rd Earl of Clanricarde.
His father's family was Old English and descended from William de Burgh (d.1206) who arrived into Ireland during the reign of King Henry II, and was the founder of the House of Burgh in Ireland.[3]
His mother was a daughter of John Burke of Clogheroka and Tullyra, County Galway.
Early life
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He actively served Queen Elizabeth I against the rebel Irish lordships and their Spanish allies during the Nine Years' War.
He was appointed governor of Connaught, member of the privy council in Ireland, and, in 1624, created Viscount Tunbridge and Baron of Somerhill, a manor which he owned in Kent. The titles of Viscount Galway and Earl of St Albans were conferred on him in 1628.
In 1601 he succeeded his father as the 4th Earl of Clanricarde.
Marriage and children
In 1603, Lord Clanricarde married Frances Walsingham, the widow of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
Richard and Frances had one son:
- Ulick, his successor
—and two daughters:
- Honora, married John Paulet, 5th Marquis of Winchester
- Mary, married Edward Butler of Ballinahinch
Later life
By 1633 he was not only one of the principal landowners in Ireland, but virtually all powerful in County Galway.
This aroused the resentment of the Dublin Government, which decided to use the method of empanelling juries to "find" defective titles, in order to recover the lands in question for the English Crown.
Death
The treatment that Lord Clanricarde experienced from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, was said to have accelerated his death in November 1635.[4]
Wentworth however pointed to the Earl's advancing years as the obvious cause, and asked sarcastically if he was to blame for a man being over sixty.
The feud, which was continued by Clanricarde's son and heir, was in the long run very damaging to Strafford, who apparently did not reflect on the close connections that Clanricarde, through his wife, had with just that faction of the English nobility, the Rich-Devereux clan, who were most hostile to Strafford.[5]
Notes, citations, and sources
Notes
- Also see the lists of siblings and children in the text.
Citation
- Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1844). Encyclopædia of Heraldry: Or General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms. H. G. Bohn.
- Cokayne 1913, p. 230: "... 2nd but 1st surviv. s. [surviving son] and h. [heir] "
- Burke & Burke 1909, p. 409, right column: "William FitzAdelme was sent by Henry II, with Hugh de Lacie, into Ireland to receive the submission of Roderick O'Conor, King of Connaught."
- Cokayne 1913, p. 231, line 13: "He [the 4th Earl] d. 12 Nov. 1635 and was bur. there [Tunbridge] aged about 63."
- "Burke, Richard | Dictionary of Irish Biography". dib.ie. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
Sources
- Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P. (1909). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage (71st ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 28297274.
- Cokayne, George Edward (1913). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Canonteign to Cutts (for Clanricarde)
- Debrett, John (1828). Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 2 (17th ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington. OCLC 54499602. – Scotland and Ireland
Further reading
- Lennon, Colm (2004). "Burke, Richard, fourth earl of Clanricarde". In Matthew, Henry Colin Gray; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 8. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 843. ISBN 0-19-861411-X.
- Wedgwood, Cicely Veronica (1961). Thomas Wentworth, First Earl of Strafford 1593–1641. A Revaluation. London: Jonathan Cape. OCLC 1068569885.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Burgh, Ulick de". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
