Richard Burke (or de Burgh), 4th Earl of Clanricarde PC (Ire) (1572 – 12 November 1635), styled Lord Dunkellin until 1601, was an Irish nobleman and politician. He was the son of Ulick Burke, 3rd Earl of Clanricarde. Knighted in 1602 for his exploits as leader of the English cavalry during the Battle of Kinsale, he would later serve as Lord President of Connaught from 1604 to 1616, Governor of Galway from 1616, and as a member of the Privy Council of Ireland (1625). Having established himself as the largest and most influential landowner in Connacht, his later life was characterized by animosity between him and an increasingly hostile and acquisitive Dublin government.

Birth and origins

Richard was born in 1572, the second but eldest surviving son of Ulick Burke and his wife Honora Burke. His father was the 3rd Earl of Clanricarde. His father's family was Old English and descended from William de Burgh (died 1206) who arrived in Ireland during the reign of King Henry II, and was the founder of the House of Burgh in Ireland. His mother was a daughter of John Burke of Clogheroka and Tullyra, County Galway. Her family was a cadet branch of his father's line. Richard had brothers and sisters who are listed in his father's article.

Early life

Burke studied at Christ Church, Oxford from 1584 to 1598 and completed an M.A. degree. Burke fought for Queen Elizabeth I against the rebel Irish lords and their Spanish allies during the Nine Years' War.

Career

On 20 May 1601 Burke succeeded his father as the 4th Earl of Clanricarde. Richard was knighted in 1602 for his exploits as leader of the English cavalry during the Battle of Kinsale, he served as Lord President of Connaught from 1604 to 1616, Governor of Galway from 1616, and was appointed as a member of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1625.

Marriage and children

In 1603, Clanricarde married Frances Walsingham, the widow of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, daughter of Francis Walsingham. Richard and Frances had one son: —and two daughters:

Later life

By 1633 he was not only one of the principal landowners in Ireland, but virtually all-powerful in County Galway. This aroused the resentment of the Dublin Government, which decided to use the method of empanelling juries to "find" defective titles, in order to recover the lands in question for the English Crown. In 1636 Strafford held such a jury in Portumna Castle. However the jury refused to deliver the desired verdict.

Death

The treatment that Clanricarde experienced from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, was said to have hastened his death in November 1635. Wentworth, however, pointed to the Earl's advancing years as the obvious cause, and asked sarcastically whether he was to blame for a man being over sixty. The feud, which was continued by Clanricarde's son and heir, was in the long run very damaging to Strafford, who apparently did not reflect on the close connections that Clanricarde, through his wife, had with just that faction of the English nobility, the Rich-Devereux clan, who were most hostile to Strafford.

Arms

Ancestry

Notes and references

Citations

Sources