Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde

Richard Burke (or de Burgh), 4th Earl of Clanricarde PC (Ire) (/dəˈbɜːr ... klænˈrɪkɑːrd/ də-BUR ... klan-RIK-ard; 1572 – 12 November 1635), styled Lord Dunkellin (/dʌnˈkɛlɪn/ dun-KEL-in) until 1601, was an Irish nobleman and politician.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Clanricarde PC (Ire)
Ricard de Búrca
Governor of County Galway
In office 1616–1635
Lord President of Connaught
In office 1604–1616
Succeeded by	The Viscount Wilmot
Parliamentary Offices Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal Hereditary Peerage (Viscount Tunbridge: 1624) (Earl of St Albans: 1628) 3 April 1624 – 12 November 1635 Preceded by New Creation Succeeded by Ulick Burke Member of the Irish House of Lords Hereditary Peerage 1601 – 12 November 1635 Preceded by Ulick Burke Succeeded by Ulick Burke
Personal details
Born	Richard Burke 1572 (1572)
Died	(1635-11-12)November 12, 1635
Nationality	Irish
Spouse	Frances Walsingham
Children	Ulick, & others
Parents	Ulick, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde Honora Burke
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford
Military career
Allegiance	Kingdom of Ireland
Years of service	1593–1603
Rank	Colonel
Commands	Foot Regiment
Battles / wars	Nine Years' War Battle of Kinsale (1601)

He was the son of Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde. Knighted in 1602 for his exploits as leader of the English cavalry during the Battle of Kinsale, he would later serve as Lord President of Connaught from 1604 to 1616, Governor of Galway from 1616, and as a member of the Privy Council of Ireland (1625). 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

Family tree

Richard Burke with wife, parents, and selected relatives.[a] Richard 2nd Earl d. 1582 Margaret O'Brien Ulick 3rd Earl d. 1601 Honora Burke b. c. 1535 Richard 4th Earl 1572–1635 Frances Walsingham 1567–1633 William Burke d. 1626 Joan O'Shaugh- nessy Ulick 1st Marquess 1604–1657 Richard 6th Earl d. 1666 William 7th Earl d. 1687 Lettice Shirley c. 1617 – 1655 Richard 8th Earl d. aft. 1708 John 9th Earl 1642–1722 Mary Talbot d. 1711 Legend XXX Subject of the article XXX Earls & Marquesses of Clanricarde

Richard was born in 1572, the second but eldest surviving son of Ulick Burke^[1] 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 (died 1206) who arrived in Ireland during the reign of King Henry II, and was the founder of the House of Burgh in Ireland.^[2]

His mother was a daughter of John Burke of Clogheroka and Tullyra, County Galway.^[3] Her family was a cadet branch of his father's line.

Richard had brothers and sisters who are listed in his father's article.

Early life

Burke studied at Christ Church, Oxford from 1584 to 1598 and completed an M.A. degree.^[4] Burke fought for Queen Elizabeth I against the rebel Irish lords and their Spanish allies during the Nine Years' War.

Career

On 20 May 1601 Burke succeeded his father as the 4th Earl of Clanricarde.^[5] Richard was knighted in 1602 for his exploits as leader of the English cavalry during the Battle of Kinsale, he served as Lord President of Connaught from 1604 to 1616, Governor of Galway from 1616, and was appointed as a member of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1625.

Marriage and children

In 1603, Clanricarde married Frances Walsingham, the widow of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, daughter of Francis Walsingham.^[5]

Richard and Frances had one son:

1. Ulick, his successor^[6]

—and two daughters:

1. Mary, married Edward Butler of Ballinahinch, 6th son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond as his 2nd wife^[7]
2. Honora (d. 1661), married 1st Garrat McCloghlan and 2ndly John Paulet, 5th Marquis of Winchester^[8]

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. In 1634 Strafford held such a jury in Portumna Castle. However the jury refused to deliver the desired verdict.^[9]

Portumna Castle was commissioned by Richard Burke and completed in 1617.

Death

The treatment that Clanricarde experienced from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, was said to have hastened his death in November 1635.^[10]

Wentworth, however, pointed to the Earl's advancing years as the obvious cause, and asked sarcastically whether 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.^[11]

Arms

Coat of arms of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde

Crest A Cat-a-Mountain sejant guardant proper, collared and chained Or. Escutcheon Or, a cross gules in the first quarter a lion rampant sable. Supporters Two Cats-a-Mountain sejant guardant proper, collared and chained Or.[12][13] Motto UNG ROY, UNG FOY, UNG LOY (One king, one faith, one law)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde
8. Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde 4. Richard Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde 9. Grany or Grace O'Carroll 2. Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde 10. Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond 5. Margaret O'Brien 11. Eleanor FitzGerald 1. Richard Burke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde 12. 6. John Burke of Clogheroka 13. 3. Honora Burke 14. 7. 15.

See also

• House of Burgh, an Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman dynasty founded in 1193