William de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster and 4th Baron of Connaught ( ; 17 September 1312 – 6 June 1333) 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 ...

who was Lieutenant of Ireland (1331) and whose murder, aged 20, led to the Burke Civil War.

Background

The grandson of the 2nd Earl Richard Óg de Burgh via his second son,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, William de Burgh was also Lord of Connaught in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and held the manor of

Clare, Suffolk Clare is a market town and civil parish on the north bank of the River River Stour, Suffolk, Stour in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. Clare is in southwest Suffolk, from Bury St Edmunds and ...

. He was summoned to Parliament from 10 December 1327 to 15 June 1328 by writs addressed to ''Willelmo de Burgh''. He is considered the first

Baron Burgh Baron Burgh ( or ) is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation was for William de Burgh in 1327, who was later Earl of Ulster, and both these titles later merged with the Crown in 1461. The second, ...

. In March 1331 he was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland, serving until November 1331.

Marriage and issue

The 3rd Earl of Ulster married, before 16 November 1327 (by a Papal Dispensation dated 1 May 1327), Maud of Lancaster, daughter of

Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster ( – 22 September 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III of England (1216–1272) and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327), his first cousin. Origins He wa ...

and

Maud Chaworth Maud de Chaworth (2 February 1282 – 3 December 1322) was an English noblewoman and wealthy heiress. She was the only child of Patrick de Chaworth. Sometime before 2 March 1297, she married Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, by whom she had seven c ...

. They had one surviving child, Elizabeth, who was 13 months old when her father was murdered. She married

Lionel of Antwerp Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, (; 29 November 133817 October 1368), was an English prince, Earl of Ulster ''jure uxoris'' from 1347, Duke of Clarence from 1362, Guardian of England in 1345–46, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1361–66, Kn ...

, third son of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

. Maud remarried to Sir Ralph Ufford,

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monar ...

1344–46, and had further issue. She was said to have had great influence over her second husband.

Murder

In February 1332, at Greencastle, near the mouth of

Lough Foyle Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle ( or "loch of the lip"), is the estuary of the River Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty over t ...

, he had his cousin Sir Walter Liath de Burgh starved to death. In revenge, Sir Walter's sister, Gylle de Burgh, wife of Sir Richard de Mandeville, planned his assassination. In June 1333, he was killed by de Mandeville, Sir John de Logan, and others. His widow, Maud (or Matilda), offered a reward for the capture of de Mandeville and his wife. The ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

'' noted that

"William Burke, Earl of Ulster, was killed by the English of Ulster. The Englishmen who committed this deed were put to death, in divers ways, by the people of the King of England; some were hanged, others killed, and others torn asunder, in revenge of his death."

Maud fled to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where she remarried, was again widowed in 1346, and then became an Augustinian canoness at Campsey Priory in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, where she is buried. Upon his death, the various factions of the de Burghs, now called Burke, began the Burke Civil War for supremacy.

Ancestry

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * ** ''Earls of Ulster and Lords of Connacht, 1205–1460 (De Burgh, De Lacy and Mortimer)'', p. 170. * * *

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:De Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster, William Donn 1312 births 1333 deaths

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 ...

Burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

People from Clare, Suffolk Nobility from County Limerick Nobility from County Galway 14th-century Irish nobility Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Barons Burgh