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

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 ...

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 The Burke/de Burgh Civil War was a conflict in Ireland from 1333 to 1338 between three leading members of the de Burgh (Burke/ Bourke) Anglo-Norman family resulting in the division into three clans. Background Twenty-year-old William Donn de ...

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 * Secon ...

, William de Burgh was also

Lord of Connaught Lord of Connaught (Connacht) was a title used by several Norman barons in Ireland. Granted to William de Burgh, the lordship was claimed by his son, Richard Mor de Burgh, and his descendants. Conquest During the Norman invasion of Ireland, Willia ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and held the manor of Clare, Suffolk. 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 secon ...

. 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 of England, Edward II (1307–1327), his first c ...

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 Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, 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 the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was named after his birthplace, at Antwerp in the Duc ...

, 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 and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

. Maud remarried 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 monarch ...

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

Murder

In February 1332, at Greencastle, near the mouth of Lough Foyle, he had his cousin Sir

Walter Liath de Burgh Sir Walter Liath de Burgh (; ; died February 1332) was an Anglo-Irish noble whose imprisonment by the Earl of Ulster and death from starvation led to the Earl's murder the following year. De Burgh was the eldest son of Sir William Liath de ...

starved to death. In revenge, Sir Walter's sister,

Gylle de Burgh Gylle de Burgh (; ; fl. 1332) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman and wife of Richard de Manderville. De Burgh was the only daughter of Sir William Liath de Burgh (died 1323) and a sister of Sir Walter Liath de Burgh. Walter was captured and starv ...

, 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'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

'' 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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where she remarried, was again widowed in 1346, and then became an

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canoness at

Campsey Priory Campsey Priory, (''Campesse'', ''Kampessie'', etc.), was a religious house of Augustinian canonesses at Campsea Ashe, Suffolk, about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) south east of Wickham Market. It was founded shortly before 1195 on behalf of two of h ...

in Suffolk, where she is buried. Upon his death, the various factions of the de Burghs, now called Burke, began the

for supremacy.

Background

Marriage and issue

Murder

Ancestry

References

Further reading