Burke, Ulick (de Burgh, Uilleag) (‘Uilleag na gCeann’) (d. 1544), 1st earl of Clanricard , eldest son of Ricard Mór (qv), 9th lord of Clanricard, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Piers Butler (qv), 8th earl of Ormond and 1st earl of Ossory, was one of the major lords of Ireland to be rewarded with an earldom under the policy of ‘surrender and regrant’. However, his succession to the lordship was not a foregone conclusion. The increasing tendency of the Clanricard Burkes away from an inheritance pattern based on primogeniture led to the first serious succession dispute in the lordship after the death of John Burke, 10th lord of Clanricard, who died without heirs in 1536. The principal claimants were Risdeárd Bacach, brother of Ricard Mór, and Uilleag, son of Ricard Óg, the 7th lord. Uilleag na gCeann originally supported his uncle, but then seized the lordship for himself, using the support of the lord deputy, Lord Leonard Grey (qv). He struck a bargain with Grey, promising to ferry him and his ordnance to Galway by sea in return for his support. To seal the bargain he signed an agreement with Grey promising a yearly rent to the king (a payment by his successors before they succeeded to the lordship), promised to supply Grey with troops, and gave the deputy his son as a hostage. Both sides kept their bargains, and with Grey's support Burke took over several important castles from both of his rivals. In addition, he was knighted by his new ally in Galway (13 July 1538). Burke was invited to Cahir in January 1541 by the new lord deputy, Anthony St Leger (qv), to witness the formal reconciliation and recognition of James fitz John FitzGerald, 14th earl of Desmond (qv), in January 1541. The negotiations for his allegiance to the crown were to be conducted with Desmond as an intermediary. Later that year he was present at the parliament in Dublin and witnessed the transformation of the lordship of Ireland into a kingdom.
The negotiations concerning the surrender of Clanricard to the crown were slow, involving concessions by both sides. In May 1541 he was offered a barony or viscountcy, but for an earldom he had to travel to England to submit to the king. Burke may have had second thoughts about submission to the crown, but the submission of Con Bacach O'Neill (qv) gave him little room to manoeuvre. Early in 1542 he allied with the MacWilliam of Mayo to impose their power on northern Connacht, but by August 1542 he was on his way to court, arriving in October 1542. In May 1543 St Leger recommended that he be given the title ‘earl of Clanricard’, not ‘earl of Connacht’, and on 3 June he formally submitted to the king. He was elevated to the earldom of Clanricard on 1 July 1543 at Greenwich, and then returned to Ireland. The earldom and the grants of land from suppressed religious houses were granted to Uilleag na gCeann and the heirs male of his body (which would cause some dispute after his death). The fact that he accepted the lands of religious houses from the crown should not be construed to mean that he supported the king's religious policies. Nor can his opposition to Richard Nangle (qv), the royal appointee to the see of Clonfert, be seen as opposition to those policies. In both cases he was acting to further his own power in the region, either by extending his landed wealth or supporting a kinsman, Roland Burke (qv), as bishop. The issue of succession to the lordship became important in 1544. Uilleag na gCeann's sons were still minors, and to complicate the issue he had three wives. He married first Grainne, daughter of Maolruanaidh O'Carroll, but divorced her to marry Honora, daughter of Ricard Óg Burke. He also divorced Honora to marry Moira Marten (qv). He submitted the problem to a great council, which met in Limerick (9 October 1544), but the earl died during the proceedings (19 October). On his death the lordship was seized by Uilleag Burke, one of the contenders for the lordship in 1538. The council decided that the old earl's only legal wife was Gráinne O'Carroll, and that the rightful heir to the earldom was her son Richard Burke (qv), who became 2nd earl of Clanricard. The council also compromised with Uilleag Burke; it did not recognise his right to the lordship but did appoint him as custodian of the earldom during the minority of the earl, a position he held till his death in 1551.