Dominic Burke ( – 1649) was an Irish Dominican

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and political agent. Burke appears to have been a native of

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virtu ...

; he is documented as a member of the Dominican Abbey of the town, after which he studied at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. From 1628 he was a collegial student in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where, after graduate studies, he became

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and

confessor Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and Italian. He was proposed in 1633 by Ridolfi for the Scottish mission but remained in Rome as procurator of the Irish Dominican province, which he held till 1639, succeeding his brother,

Oliver Burke Oliver Jasen Burke (born 7 April 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Bundesliga club Werder Bremen and the Scotland national team. He came through the academy at Nottingham Forest, signing a profession ...

. Between 1638 and 1640 he was proposed for the sees of

Clonfert Clonfert () is a small village in east County Galway, Ireland, halfway between Ballinasloe and Portumna. The village gives its name to the Diocese of Clonfert. Clonfert Cathedral is one of the eight cathedral churches of the Church of Ireland, ...

, Kilalla and

Achonry Achonry (; ) is a village in County Sligo, Ireland. The old name is Achad Cain Conairi. St. Nath Í ua hEadhra (O'Hara) founded a monastery here. The foundation gave the later diocese its name. The monastery was founded on land granted by the ...

but not appointed to any of them. In 1639 he was in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to carry out an arbitration in a dispute between English Dominicans, meriting praise from

Carlo Rossetti Carlo Rossetti, ca. 1654-1672. Carlo Rossetti (Roscetti) (1614 – 23 November 1681) was an Italian Catholic Cardinal, born of the noble Rossetti family in Ferrara. Earlier in his career he went to London as a secret nuncio on behalf of Pope Urb ...

, the Papal Representative. He was by then patronised by the

Earl of Clanricarde Earl of Clanricarde (; ) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, first in 1543 and again in 1800. The former creation became extinct in 1916 while the 1800 creation is extant and held by the Marquess of Sligo since 191 ...

and the Marchioness of Winchester, who had recommended him for a see. He returned to

in 1642 as its prior, instigating a programme of theological studies and was responsible for the repair of the priory church, thanks to the support of the

. Burke and his brother Oliver both served as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

and adviser to Clanricarde, and only left his household at the threat of severe censure from Dominic Nugent, the provincial. They left his manor at

Portumna Portumna ( - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where the River Shanno ...

before 15 September 1642. Despite this, he was employed by Clanricarde as his agent to the Irish Confederates in Kilkenny, dealing directly with the Supreme Council. Burke was a resolute opponent of

Giovanni Battista Rinuccini Giovanni Battista Rinuccini (1592–1653) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop in the mid-seventeenth century. He was a noted legal scholar and became chamberlain to Pope Gregory XV. In 1625 Pope Urban VIII made him the Archbishop of Fermo ...

during the later part of the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

, signing the Ormond Peace in 1646. However, he repented of this in the last months of his life. He was a great-uncle of

John O'Heyne John O'Heyne (ca. 1648 – 11 December 1713) was an Irish Dominican and historian. Biography O'Heyne was born near Athenry about 1648. His paternal grand-uncle was Dominic Burke, O.P., who opposed the Papal Nuncio, Giovanni Battista Rinuccini. ...

, who described him as "serious, pious and fprudent disposition." Thomas O Floinn writes that

References

* ''Old Galway'', Maureen Donovon O'Sullivan, 1942 * ''Burke, Dominic'', Thomas S.R. O Floinn, in ''Dictionary of Irish Biography from the Earliest Times to the Year 2002'', pp. 22–23,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Dominic 1603 births 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish Dominicans Christian clergy from County Galway 1649 deaths Irish expatriates in Italy People from Athenry