Burke (de Burgh), Richard (Risdeard Mac Oliverus) (d. 1585), nineteenth lord of MacWilliam Íochtair , was the son of Oliver Burke of the Sliocht Ricaird of Tirawly and great-grandson of Richard Burke (Richard Ó Cuairsge) (qv); see under Risdeard Burgh (de Burgh)), 7th lord of MacWilliam Iochtar. Following the death of his brother John Burke (qv), 17th lord, in November 1580, he disputed the succession with Richard Burke (qv) (Risdeard an Iarainn). Richard mac Oliverus had a much better record of loyalty to the crown, and the lord deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney (qv), had assured him of the government's support. In spring 1581 a civil war appeared inevitable between the two contending factions, but Sir Nicholas Malby (qv), president of Connacht, entered Mayo with his own forces and summoned both parties to meet him at Togher Castle. On 7 March, mac Oliverus and Richard an Iarainn quarrelled bitterly before Malby as they laid down their respective claims. Perhaps conscious that Richard an Iarainn was the stronger of the two, Malby installed him as lord of the MacWilliam Íochtair and as a consolation made mac Oliverus sheriff of Mayo.
In April–May 1582, fighting broke out between supporters of Richard an Iarainn and those of mac Oliverus during which mac Oliverus's son was killed. Richard an Iarainn claimed that mac Oliverus's men had killed and chased away royal officials who were collecting royal taxes and that he had then retaliated in order to uphold the crown's authority. Malby treated this version of events with scepticism, and the Gaelic annals suggest that Richard an Iarainn deliberately provoked mac Oliverus by raiding his territory. Mac Oliverus went into rebellion and travelled to Ulster, where Turlough Luineach O'Neill (qv) agreed to provide him with 1,000 Scottish soldiers. The Scots advanced south into Sligo in early July, but withdrew when royal forces marched on them. On 20 July, mac Oliverus submitted to the crown and was treated leniently. In October he attended a gathering of the nobility of Connacht at Malby's residence in Galway.
Following the death of Richard an Iarainn in April 1583, mac Oliverus succeeded as lord of the MacWilliam Íochtair. However, the Sliocht Ulick, which was Richard an Iarainn's sept, refused to accept his election. Malby led the royal forces into the territory of the Sliocht Ulick to crush the opposition to mac Oliverus. The government was annoyed at mac Oliverus for taking the Gaelic title the MacWilliam Íochtair, so in November he went to Dublin to regularise his relationship with the crown. On 7 November he was formally recognised as seneschal of Mayo and was knighted in return for disavowing his Irish title. His power as effective head of his clan was undermined by the presence of royal troops on his lands and his manifest dependence on them to maintain his authority. Such was his loyalism that his son Thomas, who was a friar, converted to protestantism in 1584. In October 1585 mac Oliverus surrendered his Irish title and received his lands by letters patent. That same year he supported the composition of Connacht. He died in December 1585.