Ulick (De Burgh) Burke (1604 - 1658)

Born 8 Dec 1604 in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 29 Apr 1658 at age 53 in Somerhill, Kent, England

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Biography

Ulick Bourke (or de Burgh), 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (1604-1658) was the son of Richard Bourke, 4th Earl of Clanricarde and Frances Walsingham. He married Lady Anne Compton, daughter of William Compton, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth Spencer, in December 1622. Their only daughter, Lady Margaret Bourke, was born in Denmark.

Ulick Burke entered the House of Lords as Lord Burgh in 1628. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of St. Albans, co. Hertford, and 5th Earl of Clanricarde on 12 November 1635 as well as five other titles: 2nd Viscount Tunbridge, Kent, 5th Baron of Dunkellin, 2nd Baron of Somerhill, 2nd Baron of Imanney, in the Province of Connaught, and 2nd Vscount Galway, in the Province of Connaught.

He held the office of Governor of Galway in 1636. He was appointed Knight on 20 May 1638 at Windsor, Berkshire, England. He was Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Connaught.

He was invested as a Privy Counsellor (P.C.) [Ireland] in 1645. He was created 1st Marquess of Clanricarde [Ireland] on 21 February 1645/46. He was one of the few Irish Roman Catholic magnates to support the Royalist cause in Ireland against the Parliamentarians during the English Civil Wars. On the outbreak of the Irish rebellion, he declared for King Charles I; in 1645 he was appointed Royalist commander in Connaught and created a marquess and a privy councillor. In 1646 he supported the treaty between Charles I and the Irish confederates and endeavoured after its failure to persuade the confederates to agree to a peace, without success. In 1648, allied with Inchiquin, the Munster Protestant commander, he besieged Galway and compelled its acquiescence. He succeeded as the 3rd Viscount Bourke of Clanmories, co. Mayo [I., 1629] circa 1650.He held the office of Lord Deputy General [Ireland] between 1650 and 1652.

In 1651 he opposed Cromwell in Ireland, replacing Ormonde in command of the considerable Irish Confederate Army following their defeat in the Battle of Scarrifholis

He was not trusted by Roman Catholics either, however, and was unable to stem the tide of the Parliamentary successes. In 1651 he opposed the offer of Charles, duc de Lorraine, to supply money and aid on the condition of being acknowledged “Protector” of the kingdom. In May 1652, Galway surrendered to Parliament, and in June Clanricard signed articles with the parliamentary commissioners that allowed his departure from Ireland.

By October 1652 he left Ireland for his estates in Kent. He was excepted from pardon in Cromwell's Act of 12 Aug 1652.

He died on 29 April 1658 at Somerhill, Kent, England and on his death, all of his English honours became extinct. He died intestate and his estate was administered on 3 March 1664/65. He was buried at Tonbridge, Kent, England.

Child of Ulick Bourke, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde and Lady Anne Compton

1. Lady Margaret Bourke+ d. Aug 1698

Sources

• Ulick Burke's profile in the Dictionary of Irish Biography, author Aoife Duignan:
  • https://www.dib.ie/biography/burke-ulick-a1189
• http://www.thepeerage.com/p2829.htm#i28281
• "A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland and Scotland, Extinet, Dormant and in Abeyance. E. Ed." Google Books. Accessed October 02, 2016. https://books.google.com/books?id=aU9jAAAAcAAJ.Page 98.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ulick-Burke-marquess-and-5th-earl-of-Clanricard