Burke (de Burgh), Ricard Mór

Burke (de Burgh), Ricard Mór (d. 1530), 9th lord of Clanricard , was second son of Uilleag Fionn, 6th lord of Clanricard (qv), and Sláine, daughter of Mac Conmara, and succeeded to the lordship on the death of his brother, Uilleag Óg (1520). The basically primogenitural inheritance pattern of the Clanricard Burkes began to break down in the early sixteenth century, as Uilleag Fionn was succeeded not by his son Uilleag Óg, but by his brother Ricard Óg, who ruled 1509–19. However, the succession was peaceful and the lordship remained unified. The marriage of Ricard Burke to Margaret, daughter of Piers Butler (qv), subsequently earl of Ormond and Ossory, indicates that the Clanricard Burkes were beginning to rejoin the mainstream of Anglo-Irish society, although the process was far from complete. The most pressing problem for Ricard Mór was the increasing influence of the O'Donnells in northern Connacht, especially after their final capture of Sligo castle in 1516. In 1522 all the great lords of Connacht put aside their differences in the face of a common enemy and marched on Sligo. This attack was to be one prong of a two-pronged attack, the other coming from Ulster, led by Con Bacach O'Neill (qv). O'Neill's attack failed and the Connacht alliance fell apart without a fight. Despite the growing pressure of the O'Donnells, Ricard Mór was eulogised after his death in 1530 as ‘the most bountiful and noble, the best governor and ruler who had arisen among the posterity of William [Burke] the conqueror’. He was succeeded not by his son, Uilleag na gCeann Burke (qv), but by his uncle's grandson, John, who ruled till 1536.