lands from Theobald Walter (ancestor of the Butlers)
and was granted more lands by John in 1199 and 1201.
By the early thirteenth century he held extensive lands
in what are now counties Tipperary and Limerick. The
de Burghs also intermarried with other prominent Irish
families, such as the Uí Chonchobair and Uí Chellaig,
and rapidly Gaelicized.
The Augustinian priory of St. Edmund in Athassel,
County Tipperary, was built by William de Burgh in
about 1200. The de Burghs later increased its endow-
ments, and several members of the family (Walter son
of William [d. 1208]; Richard earl of Ulster [d. 1326];
and probably also Earl William [d. 1280]) were buried
in the priory, including the founder.
After receiving the speculative grant from John,
de Burgh interfered in Connacht affairs with the
help of Ua Briain’s forces. He came to the assistance
ofCathal Carrach, grandson of Ruaidrí Ua Con-
chobair, who was opposing the claim to the kingship
of Connacht of his kinsman, Cathal Crobderg son of
Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair. Cathal Carrach was pro-
claimed king, but de Burgh soon switched sides and
in 1201 supported Cathal Crobderg. Their forces
combined to kill Cathal Carrach, after which event
Crobderg was inaugurated as king. Subsequent to
another change of heart on de Burgh’s side, he was
summoned before the king of England. De Burgh then
had his lands in Limerick and Tipperary re-granted,
but lost his claim to Connacht. William died in 1205
and his lands were taken in custody until his heir
Richard came of age in 1214. On September 13, 1215,
Richard Mór (“the Great,” or “Senior”) obtained con-
firmation of the speculative grant his father had
received. This grant, however, was not put into effect
immediately, as Cathal Crobderg obtained a very
similar grant confirming him in the possession of
Connacht on the same day. Cathal Crobderg’s son
and successor Áed, however, forfeited the grant of
Connacht, and so in 1227 Richard’s grant was put
into effect. Richard then became lord of Connacht,
holding twenty-five of the thirty cantreds of which
the province was comprised; his demesne lands were
situated in what is now County Galway. The remain-
ing five cantreds came to be known as the “King’s
Five Cantreds” and were leased to Ua Conchobair.
Richard rebuilt Galway Castle in 1232, and four years
later began building what became the center of his
power, the castle of Loughrea. He was justiciar of
Ireland from 1228 to 1232, and in this office he was
nominally and briefly succeeded by his uncle Hubert
de Burgh, earl of Kent and justiciar of England from
1215 to 1232. Hubert backed Richard in his efforts
to increase his influence and wealth. When Hubert
fell out of favor with the king, his nephew Richard
was ordered to surrender his own lands. However,
after supporting the king in his war against Earl
Marshal in Leinster in 1234, he recovered his lands
and proceeded with the conquest and subinfeudation
of Connacht.Lords of Connacht and Earls of Ulster
Richard died on an expedition to Poitou in the service
of King Henry III in 1243, when his eldest son and
heir Richard was not yet of age. The young Richard
obtained seisin of his father’s possessions in 1247,
but died a year later. Another period of minority
followed, and Richard’s lands were given into the
custody of Peter de Bermingham until Richard Mór’s
second son Walter came of age. In 1261, at the Battle
of Callann, de Burgh, the justiciar, and the Fitzgeralds
were defeated by MacCarthaig, after which the south
of Munster was lost to government control. Mean-
while de Burgh’s center of gravity shifted further to
the north. Walter was given the title Earl of Ulster on
July 15, 1263, and subsequently held sway over an
enormous area. His award of the earldom reflected
the feeling of the English government that the Anglo-
Irish colony was under threat.
Walter founded the priory of St. Peter for Domin-
ican friars in Lorrha (County Tipperary) in 1269.
The de Burghs also built a Franciscan friary in
Limerick in the thirteenth century. Walter died in
1271 and was succeeded by his son Richard “the
Red Earl,” who was still a minor. Richard was the son
of Walter and his wife Avelina, daughter of the
long-serving justiciar of Ireland John fitz Geoffrey.
During Walter’s lifetime, a civil war had broken out
between the de Burghs and the Fitzgeralds, from
whom the de Burghs had accumulated extensive
lands in Connacht (in 1264 Walter de Burgh had
seized two Geraldine castles). The Red Earl’s great
opponent was John FitzThomas, who was appointed
first earl of Kildare in 1316. In 1294, FitzThomas
imprisoned Richard, and John burnt the priory of
Athassel in 1319. The dispute was, however, sub-
stantially resolved by the exchange of Geraldine
lands in Connacht for lands elsewhere in Ireland.
Richard married a distant relative, Margaret, the
great-granddaughter of Hubert de Burgh. On several
occasions he managed to depose an Ua Néill king
and install his own favorite king of Cenél nEógain,
from the newly formed Uí Néill branch called
Clandeboye. He played a similar part in Connacht
with the Uí Chonchobair.
Richard went on campaigns to Scotland in 1296
and 1303. In spite of the fact that his daughterBURGH