William Burke, Lord of Bealatury (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1580s–1616) was an Irish

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

and

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

who served in Spain, and later in Ireland during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

Career

Burke was a member of the

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, 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 (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

family of

Clanricarde 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. Terr ...

, in what is now

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. He was one of five brothers who left Ireland to enrol in Spanish service in the late 1580s. The five were sons of John na Seamar Burke (died 1583) and nephews of

Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde ( ; died 1601), styled Lord Dunkellin ( ) until 1582, was an Irish peer who was the son of Richard Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde and Margaret O'Brien. Birth and origins Ulick wa ...

(died 1601). The eldest of the family was

Redmond Burke, Baron Leitrim Redmond Burke, Baron Leitrim (; ; fl. 1580s–1602) was an Irish noble and soldier who served in Spain and later in Ireland during the Nine Years' War. Family background Burke was a member of the Burke family of Clanricarde, in what is now C ...

. They were in Ireland in time to participate in the

Nine Years' War (Ireland) The Nine Years' War (May 1593 – 30 March 1603) was a conflict in Ireland between a confederacy of Irish lords (with Spanish support) and the English-led government. The war was primarily a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland, ...

. Philip O'Sullivan Beare relates that in 1599 William Burke secured a victory over "English recruits clad in red coats" (). Both William and Redmond were "some of the chiefs who were along with

Red Hugh O'Donnell Hugh Roe O'Donnell II (; 20 October 1572 – 30 August 1602), also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell, was an Irish Chief of the Name, clan chief and senior leader of the Irish confederacy during the Nine Years' War (Ireland), Nine Years' War. He was ...

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...

in 1601". In the aftermath of the battle it was determined that O'Donnell, "Redmond, the son of John Burke, and Captain Hugh Mus, the son of Robert, should go to Spain to complain of their distresses and difficulties to the King of Spain." O'Neill and O'Donnell determined that "These chiefs left some of their neighbouring confederates in Munster, to plunder it in their absence, namely: Captain Tyrrell, the other sons of John Burke, and other gentlemen besides them." William accompanied

Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare, Prince of Beare, 1st Count of Berehaven (; 1560 – 16 July 1618) was an Irish nobleman and soldier who was the last independent Chief of the Name of Clan O'Sullivan. He was thus the last ''O'Sullivan Beare'', a title ...

on his march north in 1603. He appears to have gone to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the years afterwards. William Burke signed himself Lord of Bealatury in Spanish documents of 1616.

References

External links

* http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100077/index.html * http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/T100005F/text013.html * https://www.academia.edu/8243548/Glimpses_of_Irishmen_in_Spanish_armies_1621-1644 {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Lord of Bealatury, William 16th-century Irish military personnel 16th-century soldiers 17th-century Irish people Nobility from County Galway Military personnel from County Galway Irish soldiers in the Spanish Army Irish emigrants to Spain Irish expatriates in Spain

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

People of Elizabethan Ireland

Career

See also

References

External links