Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster

One of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries

Richard Óg de Burgh
2nd Earl of Ulster
Arms of de Burgh: Or, a cross gules.^[1]
Tenure	1271–1326
Predecessor	Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster
Successor	William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster
Native name	Ricard Óg de Búrca
Other titles	3rd Baron of Connaught
Born	1240 Ireland
Died	29 July 1326(1326-07-29) (aged 85–86) Athassel Priory, near Cashel, Ireland
Spouse(s)	Margarite
Issue	10, including: Elizabeth, Queen of Scotland John de Burgh Edmond de Burgh
Parents	Walter de Burgh Aveline FitzJohn

Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and 3rd Baron of Connaught (English: /dˈbɜːr/; d’-BER; 1240 – 29 July 1326), called The Red Earl (Latinized to de Burgo), was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries and father of Elizabeth, wife of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland.

Early life

Richard's father was Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster (of the second creation) and Lord of Connacht,^[2] who was the second son of Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Lord of Connaught and Egidia de Lacy. Richard's mother was Aveline FitzJohn, daughter of Sir John FitzGeoffrey.

"Richard Óg", means "Richard the Young", which may be a reference to his youth when he became earl in 1271, or to differentiate him from his grandfather, Richard Mór.

Earl of Ulster

Richard Óg was the most powerful of the de Burgh Earls of Ulster, succeeding his father in Ulster and Connacht upon reaching his majority in 1280.^[2] He was a friend of King Edward I of England, who summoned him repeatedly to attend him in person in the Scottish wars, and ranked first among the Earls of Ireland. Richard married Margaret, the daughter of his cousin John de Burgh (also spelt de Borough) and Cecily Baillol.

He pursued expansionist policies that often left him at odds with fellow Norman lords, in particular the FitzGeralds. In the 1290s he clashed fiercely with John FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Kildare. Matters reached a climax in 1294 when Kildare captured Richard and imprisoned him at Lea Castle for several months "to the disturbance of the whole land". The Parliament of Ireland eventually secured Richard's release and thereafter relations between the two men improved, with Richard's daughter Joan marrying Kildare's son and heir. Kildare, though he received a royal pardon for his actions, was forced to surrender his lands in Connacht to Richard, and proved no threat to Richard's policy of expansion in the longer term.^[3]

Richard's daughter Elizabeth became the second wife of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland. However, this did not stop Richard from leading his forces from Ireland to support England's King Edward I in his Scottish campaigns; Edward captured Elizabeth in 1306, but in order to gain the support of Richard, Edward only put Elizabeth under house arrest. When the forces of Edward Bruce invaded Ulster in 1315, the Red Earl led a force against him, but suffered defeat at Connor in Antrim. The invasion of Bruce and the uprising of Felim McHugh O'Connor in Connacht left Richard virtually without authority in his lands, but O'Connor was killed in 1316 at the Second Battle of Athenry. The result was that Richard was able to recover Ulster after the defeat of Bruce at Faughart.^[2]

Richard died on 29 July 1326 at Athassel Priory, near Cashel, County Tipperary.^[4]

Children and family

Aveline de Burgh (b. c. 1280), married John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth
Eleanor de Burgh (1282 – aft. August 1324), married Thomas de Multon, 1st Baron Multon of Egremont
Elizabeth de Burgh (c. 1284 – 26 October 1327), Queen consort of Scotland, married Robert the Bruce as his second wife, and was the mother of David II of Scotland
Walter de Burgh (c. 1285–1304)
John de Burgh (c. 1286 – 18 June 1313)
Maud de Burgh (c. 1288–1320), married Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford
Thomas de Burgh (c. 1292–1316)
Katherine de Burgh (c. 1296 – 1 November 1331), married Maurice Fitzgerald, 1st Earl of Desmond
Edmond de Burgh (b. c. 1298)
Joan de Burgh (c. 1300 – 23 April 1359), married firstly, Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare, by whom she had issue, and secondly, Sir John Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Knayth, by whom she had issue, including Elizabeth Darcy who married James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond

Annals of the Four Masters

From the Annals of the Four Masters:

M1303.8.A great army was led by the King of England into Scotland; and the Red Earl and many of the Irish and English went with a large fleet from Ireland to his assistance. On this occasion they took many cities, and gained sway over Scotland. Theobald Burke, the Earl's brother, died after his return from this expedition, on Christmas night, at Carrickfergus.

M1304.2. The Countess, wife of Richard Burke, Earl of Ulster, i.e. the Red Earl, and Walter de Burgo, heir of the same Earl, died.

M1305.2. The new castle of Inishowen was erected by the Red Earl.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster

16. Walter de Burgh?

8. William de Burgh

17. Alice?

4. Richard Mór de Burgh, 1st Baron of Connaught

18. Domnall Mór Ua Briain

9. Daughter of Domnall Mór Ua Briain

19. Orlacan, daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada

2. Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster

20. Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath

10. Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath

21. Rohese of Monmouth

5. Egidia de Lacy, Lady of Connacht

22. William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber

11. Margaret de Braose, Lady of Trim

23. Maud de Braose

1. Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster

12. Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex

6. John Fitzgeoffrey

26. Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford

13. Aveline Fitz Peter, Countess of Essex

27. Matilda de St. Hilaire

3. Aveline FitzGeoffrey

28. Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk

14. Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk

29. Ida de Tosny

7. Isabel Bigod

30. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

15. Maud Marshal

31. Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke

References

Citations

^ Burke, Bernard (1884). The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time. University of California Libraries. London: Harrison & Sons.
^ ^a ^b ^c Curtis, Edmund (2004) [1950]. A History of Ireland (6th ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 78, 83–86. ISBN 0-415-27949-6.
^ Otway-Ruthven, A.J. (1993). A History of Medieval Ireland. New York: Barnes and Noble reprint. p. 211.
^ Duffy, Seán (2004). "Burgh, Richard de, second earl of Ulster [called the Red Earl] (b. in or after 1259, d. 1326), magnate, lord of Connacht". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3995. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 21 December 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

Bibliography

Archer, Thomas Andrew (1886). "Burgh, Richard de (1259?-1326)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 7. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Curtis, Edmund (2004) [1950]. A History of Ireland (6th ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27949-6.
Otway-Ruthven, A.J. (1993). A History of Medieval Ireland. New York: Barnes and Noble reprint. p. 211.
Harbison, Sheelagh (1995), "Rindown Castle: a royal fortress in Co. Roscommon", Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 47
Hayden, Alan (1988), "Excavation on the line of the medieval town defences of Loughrea, Co. Galway", Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 41 JSTOR 25535575
Holland, Patrick (1993), "Anglo-Norman Galway; rectangular earthworks and moated sites", Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 46
Holland, Patrick (1988), "The Anglo-Normans in Co. Galway: the process of colonization", Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 41 JSTOR 25535573
Holland, Patrick (1997), "The Anglo-Norman landscape in County Galway; land-holdings, castles and settlements", Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 49
Knox, Hubert T. (1908). The History of the County of Mayo to the close of the sixteenth century. Dublin: Hodges, Figgis and Company. p. 395.
MacLysaght, Edward (1978), The Surnames of Ireland, Dublin{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Moody, T. W.; Martin, F. X.; Byrne, F. J., eds. (1989). A New History of Ireland: IX: Maps, Genealogies, Lists, A Companion to Irish History, Part II. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-959306-4.
- Earls of Ulster and Lords of Connacht, 1205–1460 (De Burgh, De Lacy and Mortimer), p. 170.
O'Donovan, John (1843), The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, commonly called O'Kelly's Country, Dublin: Irish Archaeological Society
Weiss, Frederick, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, pp. Lines 73–30, 177B-8, 177B-9

External links

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.