William (Burgh) de Burgh (abt. 1158 - bef. 1206)

Descendants

Died before Feb 1206 before about age 48 in Athassel Abbey, County Tipperary, Ireland

Biography

From Wikipedia:

• William's ancestry is unknown but he was apparently a kinsman of Hubert de Burgh. He arrived in Ireland in 1175 among retinue of King Henry II of England. Henry apparently appointed him Governor of Limerick. With in a few years he was granted the manors of Kilsheeland and Ardpatrick, and in time, the castle of Tibraghty in County Kilkenny.

• In 1179, King Henry II of England granted vast estates of land in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught to William who became the first Lord of Connaught, but never really held the land of Connaught until 1203.

• Sometime in the 1190's, William allied with the King of Thomond, either Donal Mor mac Turlough O'Brien, King of Thomond (died 1194) or his son Murtogh, and may have married Donal's daughter. This alliance probably took place during the reign of Murtough, as up to the time of his death Donal had being at war with the Normans. At any rate no more wars are recorded between the two sides for the rest of the decade.

• In 1200, "Cathal Crobderg Ua Conchobair went into Munster, to the son of Mac Carthy and William Burke to solicit their aid." This marked the start of de Burgh's interest in the province. Though King of Connacht Cathal Crobderg Ua Conchobair (reigned 1190--1224) faced much opposition, mainly from within his own family and wished to engage Burke's aid to help secure his position. The following year William and Ua Conchobair led an army from Limerick to Tuam and finally to Boyle. Ua Conchobair's rival, Cathal Carragh Ua Conchobair marched at the head of his army to give them battle but was killed in a combined Burke/Ua Conchobair onslaught after a week of skirmishing between the two sides.

• William and Ua Conchobair then travelled to Iar Connacht and stayed at Cong for Easter. Here, William and the sons of Rory O'Flaherty conspired to kill Ua Conchobair but the plot was foiled, apparently by holy oaths they were made to swear by the local Coarb family. However, when de Burgh demanded payment for himself and his retinue, battle finally broke out with over seven hundred of de Burgh's followers said to have being killed. William, however, managed to return to Limerick.

• The following year in 1202, William returned and took vengeance, on his army that was destroyed a year early. He took the title "Lord of Connaught" in 1203.

• The Annals of the Four Masters recorded his passing in 1206: "William Burke plundered Connaught, as well churches as territories; but God and the saints took vengeance on him for that; for he died of a singular disease, too shameful to be described."

• The identity of William's wife is uncertain. A late medieval genealogy records his marriage to Donal Mor mac Turlough O'Brien, and the descent of Clanricarde from their son Richard. A book of genealogies recorded in the 15th century by Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, one of the Four Masters (published in Annalecta Hibernica 18), indicates that the mother of Richard Mor de Burgh, William's son and successor, was the "daughter of the Saxon [English] king", an illegitimate daughter of Henry II of England or perhaps Richard I of England. Such a connection would explain the use of the term consanguineus [kinsman] by Edward I of England to describe Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster. However, the filiation of William's children remains conjectural, and it is not even clear whether Richard de Burgh, ancestor of Clanricarde, is even a separate person from Richard Mor de Burgh.

• William de Burgh (circa 1160 - winter 1205/1206)[1] was the founder of the de Burgh/Burke/Bourke dynasty in Ireland. ^[1]

Name

William de Burgh (1157 - 1206). ^[2]

William Burke ^[3]

Titles

Governor of Limerick - bestowed by Henry II Seneschal of Munster (Royal Governor) 1201-1203

Ancestry

His family were in England for a while and claimed to descend from the French noble Counts of Rethel and Baldwin II of Jerusalem.^[1]

A family tree on the Wikipedia site ^[4]shows William's parents as Walter de Burgh of Burgh Castle, Norfolk, and his wife Alice. William's siblings are then shown as

1. Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent, died 1243. (issue; John and Hubert)
2. Geoffrey de Burgh, died 1228.
3. Thomas de Burgh

Residence

The 'de Burgh' family owned the majority of a small village, Walton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire and did so for hundreds of years through many generations. ^[2]

1175 Arrival in Ireland

He arrived in Ireland in 1175 among the retinue of King Henry II of England. Within a few years he was granted the manors of Kilsheeland and Ardpatrick, and in time, the castle of Tibraghty in County Kilkenny.^[2]

King Henry II of England appointed him Governor of Limerick and granted him vast estates in Leinster and Munster. ^[1]

De Burgh's castles at Tibberaghny (County Kilkenny), Kilsheelan, Ardpatrick and Kilfeacle were used to protect King John's northern borders of Waterford and Lismore and his castles at Carrigogunnell and Castleconnell were used to protect Limerick. ^[1]

1179 First Lord of Connaught

In 1179, King Henry II of England granted vast estates of land in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught to William who became the first Lord of Connaught, but he never really held the land of Connaught until 1204. ^[2]

1190 Marriage to daughter of King of Thomond

Sometime in the 1190s, William allied with the King of Thomond, either Domnall Mór Ua Briain, King of Thomond (died 1194) or his son Murtogh, and married one of his daughters. This alliance probably took place during the reign of Murtough, as up to the time of his death Donal had been at war with the Normans. At any rate no more wars are recorded between the two sides for the rest of the decade. ^[1]

The identity of William's wife is uncertain. ^[1]

(Royal Ancestry 2013 Vol. II p. 14) He married before 1193 ________, said to be a daughter of Domnal Mor Ua Brian, King of Limerick.

A late medieval genealogy records his marriage to an unnamed daughter of Donmal Mor mac Turlough O'Brien, ^[5]and the descent of the Earls of Ulster and Clanricarde from their son Richard.

A book of genealogies recorded in the 15th century by Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh, one of the Four Masters (published in Annalecta Hibernica 18), indicates that the mother of Richard Mor de Burgh, William's son and successor, was the "daughter of the Saxon [English] king", an illegitimate daughter of Henry II of England or perhaps Richard I of England. Such a connection would explain the use of the term consanguineus kinsman by Edward I of England to describe Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster.^[1]

1199 Campaigns in Desmond

From 1199 to 1202 de Burgh led military campaigns in Desmond with the aid of the Ó Briain. Success in the west and south allowed de Burgh to conquer the Kingdom of Connacht, which although he had been granted probably before 1195, he had never occupied. Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht, fought a successful counter-attack against the Anglo-Norman castles in Munster, including de Burgh's castle of Castleconnell. Further fighting led to loss of three castles and property, all of which was eventually retrieved with the exception of much of Connacht.^[1]

1200 Munster

He was Seneschal of Munster (Royal Governor) from 1201 to 1203.^[1]

In 1200, "Cathal Crobderg Ua Conchobair went into Munster, to the son of Mac Carthy and William Burke to solicit their aid." This marked the start of de Burgh's interest in the province. ^[1]

Though King of Connacht Cathal Crobderg Ua Conchobair (reigned 1190-1224) faced much opposition, mainly from within his own family and wished to engage Burke's aid to help secure his position. The following year William and Ua Conchobair led an army from Limerick to Tuam and finally to Boyle. Ua Conchobair's rival, Cathal Carragh Ua Conchobair marched at the head of his army to give them battle but was killed in a combined Burke/Ua Conchobair onslaught after a week of skirmishing between the two sides.^[1]

According to the Annals of Inisfallen, in 1201 William and the sons of Domnall Mór led a major joint military expedition into Desmond, slaying Amlaíb Ua Donnabáin among others.^[1]

William and Ua Conchobair then travelled to Iar Connacht and stayed at Cong for Easter. Here, William and the sons of Rory O'Flaherty conspired to kill Ua Conchobair but the plot was foiled, apparently by holy oaths they were made to swear by the local Coarb family. However, when de Burgh demanded payment for himself and his retinue, battle finally broke out with over seven hundred of de Burgh's followers said to have being killed. William, however, managed to return to Limerick. ^[1]

The following year in 1202, William returned and took vengeance, on his army that was destroyed a year early. He took the title “Lord of Connaught” in 1203.^[1]

Death

He died in winter 1205/1206 ^[6]and was interred at the Augustinian Priory of Athassel in Golden [County Tipperary] which he had founded c. 1200. ^[7]

The Annals of the Four Masters recorded his passing thus: "William Burke plundered Connacht, as well churches as territories; but God and the saints took vengeance on him for that; for he died of a singular disease, too shameful to be described."^[1]

Note. Athassel Priory was known as Athassel Priory of Edmund the King, and is located 8 km SW of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland. The priory is now a ruined monastic site founded by the Burgo/Burgh family in the late 1100s and dedicated to the English martyr St. Edmund. The priory was dissolved in the 16th century in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In the choir (chancel) exists a tomb of a 13th century knight, possibly that of Walter de Burgh. Some ruins can be seen and there are some grave markers within the walls. Nothing now exists of the town that once surrounded the priory.

Issue

William had three known children (with the spelling Connaught being used in titles of English nobility):^[1]

1. Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Baron of Connaught, Lord of Connaught. ^[1] (Abt. 1194–Bet. 17 Feb 1242-1243)
2. Hubert de Burgh, Bishop of Limerick.^[1] (1196–1251)^[2]
3. Richard Óge de Burgh, (illegitimate), Sheriff of Connaught.^[1]

Or, William, Sheriff of Connaught (1198-1247)^[2]

An additional child, Walter de Burgh is shown in the data field without source.

However, the filiation of William's children remains conjectural, and it is not even clear whether Richard de Burgh, ancestor of Clanricarde, is even a separate person from Richard Mor de Burgh.^[2]

Children, perhaps by a natural daughter of a King of England:

1.  ? Richard Mor de Burgh Lord of Connaught (1194--1243)
2.  ? Hubert Bishop of Limerick (1196--1251)
3.  ? William Sheriff of Connaught (1198-1247)
4. Son, perhaps by the daughter of Donal Mor mac Turlough O'Brien:
5.  ? Richard "The Younger" (1200--1252), ancestor of Clanricarde

An Account Written in 1814

Sir William Fitz Adelm,

• first cousin of Hubert de Burgo, Earl of Kent
• great nephew of Odo de Burgh, Bishop of Baieux, created Earl of Kent by King William the Conqueror, to whom he was half-brother.
• son of Agnes, daughter of Lewis VII, King of France. However, while Louis VII did indeed have a daughter Agnes, Agnes was sent in marriage at a very early age to the emperor of Constantinople and remained there the remainder of her life, with only one daughter to her credit.
• appointed Governor of Ireland in 1177.
• grandson created Earl of Ulster

Robert de Burgh, created Earl of Cornwall in 1068

• brother of Odo de Burgh, Bishop of Baieux
• grandfather of Sir William Fitz Adelm de Burgh

Complete Quote from Gentleman's magazine

Sir William (Fitz-Adelm) de Burgho was not ancestor of the Earls of Kent, of the name of de Burgo, but he was first cousin of Hubert de Burgo, Earl of Kent, and great nephew of Odo de Burgh, Bishop of Baieux, created Earl of Kent by King William the Conqueror, to whom he was half-brother. The Bishop’s brother, Robert de Burgh, was also created Earl of Cornwall, in 1068, he was grandfather of Sir William Fitz Adelm de Burgh (or Burke Whose mother, Agnes, was daughter of Lewis VII, King of France, and who was appointed Governor of Ireland in 1177 – his grandson was created Earl of Ulster, which title was carried into the royal house of Plantagenet by the marriage of Elizabeth de Burgh, only child of William third Earl of Ulster, with Lionel Duke of Clarence. The De Burghs, Earls of Clanricarde, are now the chief branch of this antient house: they derive from William de Burgh, younger brother of the first Earl of Ulster: they formerly enjoyed the English honour of Earl of St. Albans, and have been twice advanced to the Marquisate of Clanricarde, but the honour has each time failed for want of male heirs of the Grantee, while the Earldom has devolved on collateral issue as deswcendants of the Grantee to the Earldom. ^[8]

Death and burial

(Royal Ancestry) William de Burgh probably died in Jan. or Feb. 1206. His lands were ordered to be taken into the king's hand 7 April 1206.

Buried in Athassel Priory, Golden, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. ^[9] An Altar Tomb at Athassel Abbey, Co. Tipperary by H. G. Leask published in : The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol. 76, No. 4 (Dec., 1946), pp. 215-218 (6 pages)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18} Wikipedia
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6} Michael V. Scovetta. http://www.scovetta.com/projects/knowledge/wiki/al/William_de_Burgh.html. Citing Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Line 177B-8.
3. ↑ Annals of the Four Masters, cited by Wikipedia, William de Burgh
4. ↑ A New History of Ireland, volume IX, Oxford, 1984; Earls of Ulster and Lords of Connacht, 1205-1460 (De Burgh, De Lacy and Mortimer), p. 170; Cited in Wikipedia.
5. ↑ Empey, C. A (2004). "Burgh, William de (died 1206)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2006-11-04. Cited by Wikipedia. Richard de Burgh
6. ↑ Orpen, Goddard Henry. Ireland under the Normans II. p. 194. ISBN 1-85182-715-3; Curtis, Edmund. A History of Mediaeval Ireland from 1110 to 1513. p. 107. Citied in Wikipedia.
7. ↑ Gwynn, Aubrey; Hadcock, R. Neville (1970). Medieval Religious Houses Ireland. Longman. p. 157. Cited in Wikipedia.
8. ↑ “B. O.”, Letter to the Editor, Gentleman’s Magazine and Historical Review, Volume 84, Part 1, p. 645. https://books.google.com/books?id=sa83AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA645&lpg=PA645&dq=%22Adelin+de+Burgh%22&source=bl&ots=0vGoCexiJ5&sig=YfQfjRAeqV4hE1wtlUHIbfcmEMI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=klZNVf-vIqHfsASYioGYBg&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=%22Adelin%20de%20Burgh%22&f=false
9. ↑ William de Burgh on Find A Grave: Memorial #85679572

• Dictionary of Irish Biography profile for William de Burgh (d.1206):
  • https://www.dib.ie/biography/burgh-william-de-a1146

• Cawley, Charles. Medieval Lands: A prosopography of medieval European noble and royal families. Hosted online by the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), accessed 2021. William de Burgh

• The Peerage.

• Royal Ancestry, 2013 Vol. II p. 14

• Wikipedia:William_de_Burgh.

NOTE : The biographies of William Fitz Audelin/fitz Aldelm and William de Burgh have been confused in some old genealogies.

See also:

• O'Donovan, John. The Tribes and customs of Hy-Many, 1843.
• Knox, Hubert T. The History of Mayo, 1908.
• MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland, Dublin, 1978.
• Lower Mac William and Viscounts of Mayo, 1332-1649, in A New History of Ireland IX, pp.235-36, Oxford, 1984 (reprinted 2002).
• The Anglo-Normans in Co. Galway: the process of colonization, Patrick Holland, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, vol. 41,(1987–88)
• Burke: People and Places, Eamonn de Burca, Dublin, 1995.
• Holland, Patrick. The Anglo-Norman landscape in County Galway; land-holdings, castles and settlements, J.G.A.& H.S., vol. 49 (1997).
• Annals of Ulster at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Annals of Tigernach at CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts at University College Cork
• Revised edition of McCarthy's synchronisms at Trinity College Dublin.
• Wikipedia:House_of_Burke.