Tibbot na Long Bourke, 1st Viscount Mayo (anglicised as Theobald Bourke; ; ; 1567 – 18 June 1629) was an Irish peer and parliamentarian. A prominent member of the MacWilliam Burkes of

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

, Tibbot was a Member of the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

and was later created the first

Viscount Mayo Viscount Mayo is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, both times for members of the Bourke family. The first creation came in 1627 in favour of Tiobóid na Long Bourke, 1st Viscount Mayo, Tiobóid na Long Bourke, also k ...

. His successful life followed, and usefully illustrates, the difficult transition for Irish aristocrats from the traditional

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

world during the

Tudor conquest of Ireland The Tudor conquest (or reconquest) of Ireland took place under the Tudor dynasty, which held the Kingdom of England during the 16th century. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas, the Earl of Kildare, in the 1530s, He ...

. Bourke's name had varying spellings such as "Teabóid" or "Tepóitt" in medieval

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

. Tibbot derived from ''Thibault'', the French for Theobald; and "na Long" meant "of the ships", as he was born on a ship. This was usually rendered in Tudor English as: Tibbott or Tibbot na Long.

MacWilliam lordships

Tibbot's Irish ancestors started with

William de Burgh William de Burgh (; ; ; la, de Burgo; c.1160–winter 1205/06) was the founder of the House of Burgh (later surnamed Burke or Bourke) in Ireland and elder brother of Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent and Geoffrey de Burgh, Bishop of Ely. In ...

who was granted the overlordship of

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

in 1215 by

John Lackland John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

. William's son Richard (d.1243) took actual possession of much of the province in the 13th century. His descent then divided their lands into: *

Mac William Uachtar Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Ter ...

(Upper), based in

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Mac William Íochtar Mac William Íochtar (Lower Mac William), also known as the Mayo Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh in Ireland. Mayo covered much of the northern part of the province of Connacht and the Mac William Í ...

(Lower), based in

These branches held their lands against Gaelic and Norman opponents in the following centuries and were typical of the

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

families who intermarried locally and had adopted Gaelic culture by the 1400s (see

Gaelic Resurgence Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

Early life

His mother was the

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

queen

Grace O'Malley Grace O'Malley ( – c. 1603), also known as Gráinne O'Malley ( ga, Gráinne Ní Mháille, ), was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. In Irish folklore she is commonly k ...

(1530–1603) and his father was

Richard "the Iron" Bourke Richard "the Iron" Bourke (Irish: ''Risdeárd an Iarainn Bourke''; ; ; d. 1583), 18th Mac William Íochtar (Lower Mac William), was the an Irish chieftain and noble. Bourke was a son of David de Búrca, 15th Mac William Íochtar, by his sec ...

, 18th Mac William Íochtar (d.1583), who was her second husband, and a senior member of the Lower MacWilliam Burke clan. Both parents owned lands along the west coast of County Mayo. Tibbot was born at sea, supposedly just before his mother's fleet engaged in a sea battle with

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

. Tibbot married Maeve, daughter of Donal/Domnhnall O'Conor Sligo, in 1585, and they had eight children.

Lower MacWilliam lordship, 1576–1592

From 1541 the new

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed from ...

founded by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

attempted to involve and include the self-governing chiefdoms by the process of

surrender and regrant During the Tudor conquest of Ireland (c.1540–1603), "surrender and regrant" was the legal mechanism by which Irish clans were to be converted from a power structure rooted in clan and kin loyalties, to a late-feudal system under the English l ...

. After the

first Desmond Rebellion The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the Fitzmaurice/FitzGerald Dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and ...

(1569–76) the Dublin administration decided to apply the process in Connacht to the autonomous chiefs such as the Lower MacWilliam Bourke, but with considerable difficulty. By this stage the clan owned most of the western half of County Mayo. In contrast, an Upper MacWilliam cousin in County Galway had been created

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 ...

in 1543. In 1576 Tibbot's mother submitted to

Sir Henry Sidney Sir Henry Sidney (20 July 1529 – 5 May 1586), Lord Deputy of Ireland, was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received ...

, the

lord deputy The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is ''L ...

, in respect of her own lands. However, in the Lower MacWilliam Burke clan Risteard an Iarainn was the

tanist Tanistry is a Gaelic system for passing on titles and lands. In this system the Tanist ( ga, Tánaiste; gd, Tànaiste; gv, Tanishtey) is the office of heir-apparent, or second-in-command, among the (royal) Gaelic patrilineal dynasties of Ir ...

, elected by the clan as the next heir to the current chief, Shane Burke. If the clan adopted surrender and regrant, Richard would lose his expected chieftainship, and Shane's son would inherit under the English-law doctrine of

primogeniture Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...

. Richard therefore sided with the

Earl of Desmond Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, s ...

, then Sidney's main opponent, while his wife Grace plundered Desmond's lands with her fleet of ships in 1577 and was taken prisoner by him until 1579. In November 1580 Richard made a favourable peace with

Grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, the next lord deputy, having mustered a show of force. At the time Grey was fully engaged in crushing the

Second Desmond Rebellion The Second Desmond Rebellion (1579–1583) was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions in Ireland launched by the FitzGerald Dynasty of Desmond in Munster against English rule. The second rebellion began in July 1579 when ...

. Richard was now recognised as an autonomous clan chief by the Crown, uniquely without having to adopt surrender and regrant, in a deed dated 16 April 1581. By 1585 Grace was ruling the Lower MacWilliam Burke lordship with Tibbot, now aged 19. That year the next lord deputy,

Sir John Perrott Sir John Perrot (7 November 1528 – 3 November 1592) served as lord deputy to Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. It was formerly speculated that he was an illegitimate son of Henry VIII, though the idea is rejec ...

, decided to secure the province in the "Composition of Connaught" and Tibbot was taken hostage to ensure Grace's compliance with the Composition. While a prisoner Tibbot learnt English and married Maeve, daughter of Donal O'Conor Sligo. In 1586 the Lower MacWilliam clan remained divided over Perrott's opinion on the clan succession. Tibbot was freed by Richard Bingham to help Perrott's policy, but joined in the rebellion. By 1587 he sought a truce, followed by another rebellion in 1589 and a final peace in March 1590. By this point he was the recognised clan chief, and accepted the terms of the composition, paying his arrears of chief rent to the Crown. However, on the escape of

Red Hugh O'Donnell Hugh Roe O'Donnell (Irish: ''Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill''), also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell (30 October 1572 – 10 September 1602), was a sixteenth-century leader of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. He became Chief of the Name of Clan O'Donn ...

from

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the se ...

in 1592, Tibbot raised Mayo in his support. His attacks on Bingham's force were beaten off, no promised Spanish help arrived and O'Donnell sued for peace. Tibbot "was left high and dry" by O'Donnell, but was granted another pardon.

Nine Years' War

*''For a more detailed account of his activities during the war, see the life of his rival:

Tibbot MacWalter Kittagh Bourke Tibbot MacWalter (Theobald Fitzwalter) Kittagh Bourke, 21st Mac William Íochtar (Irish: ''Tiobóid mac Walter Ciotach Búrca'') (; ; c.1570 – in or after 1602) was the first and last person to hold that title following its restoration. He was ...

On the approach to the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

in early 1593, conflict had broken out between the Presidency of Connaught and

Hugh Roe O'Donnell Hugh Roe O'Donnell (Irish: ''Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill''), also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell (30 October 1572 – 10 September 1602), was a sixteenth-century leader of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. He became Chief of the Name of Clan O'Donne ...

Tyrconnell Tyrconnell (), also spelled Tirconnell, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Donegal, which has sometimes been called ''County Tyrconnell''. At times it also included parts of County Fermanagh, Cou ...

and Brian Óg O'Rourke of

West Breifne The Kingdom of West Breifne (Irish ''Breifne Ua Ruairc'') or Breifne O'Rourke was a historic kingdom of Ireland that existed from 1256 to 1605, located in the area that is now County Leitrim. It took its present boundaries in 1583 when West Breifn ...

. In a letter to O'Rourke, Tibbot vowed to raise an army in Mayo which could coordinate with the rebellious kings of Ulster, if O'Rourke could keep up his war against Bingham for another month. This led to Tibbot's arrest in May 1593 and he was held at

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

. His mother Grace visited Queen Elizabeth in London in June 1593 and obtained his release. Tibbot agreed to fight some of his Burke cousins who were rebelling, while his son Miles was held as a hostage by Bingham. In April 1594 Grace visited Elizabeth again, and finally secured favourable terms of surrender and regrant for Tibbot. The timing of this visit subsequently made a huge difference to him, as the Nine Years' War was starting; as a result The O'Donnell arranged in 1595 for another MacWilliam Burke cousin, Tibbot Kittagh, to replace him as clan chief. Tibbot soon regained his position in Mayo, and unsurprisingly would not join O'Donnell and his main ally Hugh O'Neill in the war. He initially assisted the English government under Clifford, before taking a less active role in the war. Clifford was then totally defeated in 1599 at the

Battle of Curlew Pass A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. While the rebels marched south to their eventual defeat at Kinsale in 1601, he embarked 300 men into three ships, sailed south, and kept both sides guessing who he would help.

1600s

In 1603

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

succeeded Elizabeth and O'Neill submitted to the terms of the

Treaty of Mellifont The Treaty of Mellifont ( ga, Conradh na Mainistreach Móire), also known as the Articles of Mellifont, was signed in 1603 and ended the Nine Years' War which took place in the Kingdom of Ireland from 1594 to 1603. End of war Following the Engl ...

. The following year he was knighted, styled as "Sir Tibbot ne Longe Bourke". For the first time Ireland was completely under English control. After the

Flight of the Earls The Flight of the Earls ( ir, Imeacht na nIarlaí)In Irish, the neutral term ''Imeacht'' is usually used i.e. the ''Departure of the Earls''. The term 'Flight' is translated 'Teitheadh na nIarlaí' and is sometimes seen. took place in Sep ...

in 1607, Tibbot was accused of plotting to help them, and was arrested again in 1608; this proved unfounded. In 1610 he was again under suspicion, as the administration intercepted letters from Spain hoping to implicate him in a revolt; yet again he was pardoned. He also represented the smaller local clans in their property registration dealings with the Dublin administration, but seems to have ended up with most of their lands by his death. His own tenants paid rent in kind under the

metayage The metayage ; es, mediería ; it, mezzadria . system is the cultivation of land for a proprietor by one who receives a proportion of the produce, as a kind of sharecropping. Another class of land tenancy in France is named , whereby the rent is ...

system, known in Ireland as "cuttings and spendings", delivering him about a quarter or third of each crop. Given the wet Irish climate, this method was probably more realistic than expecting a fixed cash rent. His son Miles received such an annual rent from Murrisk in 1633: £3 in cash, a beef animal, 40 quarts of butter, a basin of meal and a basin of malt.

1613–1629

In 1613–15 Tibbot was one of the two MPs from Mayo in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

. Being still

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, he voted against the creation of new boroughs for Protestant MPs; the new rules gave Protestants a majority of 108–102 in the Commons. The

Anglo-Spanish War (1625–30) Anglo-Spanish War may refer to: * Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), including the Spanish Armada and the English Armada * Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630), part of the Thirty Years' War * Anglo-Spanish War (1654–1660), part of the Franco-Spanish ...

started soon after the accession of

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, and yet again he and his son Miles were charged with planning a Spanish-supported Catholic revolt, and were cleared. Soon after this he was created the 1st Viscount Mayo in June 1627, with his first name by now given as Theobald. In 1628 he and other Catholic nobles started a petition campaign to persuade King Charles to reform some anti-Catholic laws, known as " The Graces". He died on 18 June 1629 and was buried at

Ballintubber Abbey Ballintubber Abbey is an abbey 2 kilometres northeast of Ballintubber, Mayo in Ireland that was founded by King Cathal Crobdearg Ua Conchobair in 1216. History Despite being suppressed and damaged during the Protestant Reformation, the roofless ...

. While Tibbot remained Catholic, he ensured that for political reasons his son Miles conformed to the Anglican church and was educated at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, while his other children remained Catholic.

Family

Tibbot married in 1585 to Maeve/Maud, daughter of Charles O'Conor Sligo, who d. 1636. They had several daughters and four sons: :Miles, 2nd viscount, d.1649; m. 1stly Honora Burke; 2ndly Isabella Freake :David, died childless in 1677; m. 1stly Mary O'Donnell; 2ndly Miss Howard :Theobald Riabach, d. 1654 in Spain; m. Miss Burke of Turlough :Richard, m. Anne McMahon Miles's descendants ran down to the 8th viscount, who died in 1767. Thereafter three of Richard's descendants were potential claimants until 1814, but never took their seats in parliament.

''An Tighearna Mhaigheo''/''Lord Mayo''

David Murphy, a native of

, is one of two men credited by Captain

Francis O'Neill Francis O'Neill (August 28, 1848 – January 26, 1936) was an Irish-born American police officer and collector of Irish traditional music. His biographer Nicholas Carolan referred to him as "the greatest individual influence on the evolution of ...

with composing the air, ''An Tighearna Mhaigheo''/''Lord Mayo'' (the other being

Thady Ó Cianáin Thady Ó Cianáin (or Thady Keenan) was an Irish composer of the early 17th century. A member of the Ó Cianáin family, he is famous as the composer of the tune "''An Tighearna Mhaigheo''"/"Lord Mayo". However, Captain Francis O'Neill credited o ...

).Online version, accessed 4 October 2014
/ref> O'Neill gives this account of its composition:

"The circumstances which led to its inspiration were as follows: David Murphy undoubtedly a man of genius, who had been taken under the protection of Lord Mayo (Tibbet na Long Bourke, 1st Viscount Mayo, 1567–1629) through benevolent motives, incurred his patron’s displeasure by some misconduct. Anxious to propitiate his Lordship, Murphy consulted a friend, Capt. Finn, of Boyle, Roscommon. The latter suggested that an ode expressive of his patron’s praise, and his own penitence, would be the most likely to bring about the desired reconciliation."

"The result was in the words of the learned Charles O’Conor, “the birth of one of the finest productions for sentiment and harmony, that ever did honor to any country.”"

"Apprehensive that the most humble advances would not soften his Lordship’s resentment. Murphy concealed himself after nightfall in Lord Mayo’s hall on Christmas Eve, and at an auspicious moment poured forth his very soul in words and music, conjuring him by the birth of the Prince of Peace, to grant him forgiveness in a strain of the finest and most natural pathos that ever distilled from the pen of man. Two stanzas will show the character of his alternating sentiments.

* ''Mayo whose valor sweeps the field'' * ''And swells the trump of Fame;'' * ''May Heaven's high power thy champion shield,'' * ''And deathless be his name.'' * ''O! bid the exiled Bard return,'' * ''Too long from safety fled;'' * ''No more in absence let him mourn'' * ''Till earth shall hide his head.''

Arms

Other sources

Teeling's history 1932; online
* ''The History of Mayo'',

Hubert T. Knox Hubert Thomas Knox (1845–1921) was an Irish historian. He was the third son of Charles Knox of Ballinrobe, who would later be High Sheriff of Mayo in 1860 and was a colonel in the North Mayo Militia. His great-grandfather was James Cuffe, 1 ...

. 1908. * ''Lower Mac William and Viscounts of Mayo, 1332–1649'', in ''A New History of Ireland'' IX, pp. 235–36, Oxford, 1984 (reprinted 2002).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayo, Tibbot na Long Bourke, 1st Viscount 1567 births 1629 deaths People from County Mayo

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

Burke Burke is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (–1206) had the surname ''de Burgh'' which was gaelicised ...

Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Mayo constituencies Irish MPs 1613–1615 Tibbot 16th-century Irish people 17th-century Irish people Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by Charles I People born at sea