Burgh, Richard Óg de (d. 1387), 2nd lord of Clanricard , was eldest surviving son of William de Burgh, 1st lord of Clanricard. He inherited his father's position in 1343 and over the course of his career succeeded in asserting the independence of the Clanricard de Burghs from the overlordship of the MacWilliam de Burghs of Mayo. In 1349 he supported the claims of Richard, son of Edmund de Burgh (qv), to the lordship of the de Burghs, but they were defeated by Edmund Albanach de Burgh (qv). In 1355 he defeated Albanach in battle, and an unofficial settlement was reached. Albanach was recognised as the senior de Burgh, with the title ‘MacWilliam’, but Richard Óg was accepted as an independent lord; he forged close alliances with the O'Briens of Thomond and regularly raided into Munster during the early 1370s. He maintained some contacts with the colonial administration, but these tended to be more adversarial than cooperative. In May 1372 he was paid for service against the Irish and in 1377 he was amerced for not attending parliament.
Within Connacht, his position was enhanced by the death of Edmund Albanach in 1375, as Albanach's son Thomas Burke (qv) never commanded the same authority as his father. Both de Burgh houses were heavily involved in the factional disputes dividing the O'Connors, with the Clanricard de Burghs firmly supporting the emerging O'Connor Don lineage, an alliance that remained firm throughout the next century. The formal division of the O'Connor lineages triggered major warfare in Connacht. For the de Burghs, the end result of this warfare was an invasion by Thomas, the MacWilliam, and his ally Toirdhealbhach Ruadh Ó Conchobhair into Clanricard. After this invasion was beaten back by Richard Óg and his O'Brien allies, he was recognised as the MacWilliam of Clanricard and acknowledged as the senior MacWilliam because his lordship predated that of Thomas de Burgh. This recognition was the crowning achievement of his life, cementing the dominance of Clanricard in southern Connacht, a dominance that passed to his son Uilleag (qv) after his death in 1387.