Clanricarde, Ulick de Burgh, marquess and 5th earl of

▪ English noble

Burgh also spelled  Bourke , or  Burke 

born 1604, London

died July 1657, Somerhill, Kent, England

      one of the few Catholic magnates to support the Royalist cause in Ireland against the Parliamentarians during the English Civil War.

      The son of Richard, 4th earl of Clanricarde (created earl of St. Albans in 1628), Ulick de Burgh was summoned to the House of Lords as Lord Burgh in 1628 and succeeded to the earldom in 1635. On the outbreak of the Irish rebellion he declared for King Charles I; he was appointed commander of the English forces in Connaught in 1644 and in 1646 was created a marquess and a privy councillor. He supported the same year the treaty between Charles I and the Irish confederates, and endeavoured after its failure to persuade the Irish to agree to a peace, without success. In 1648 he besieged Galway and compelled its acquiescence. In 1649 he reduced Sligo. On the Duke of Ormonde's departure in December 1650 Clanricarde was appointed deputy lord lieutenant, but he was not trusted by the Roman Catholics and was unable to stem the tide of the Parliamentary successes. In 1651 he opposed the offer of Charles, duc de Lorraine, to supply money and aid on the condition of being acknowledged “Protector” of the kingdom. In May 1652 Galway surrendered to Parliament, and in June Clanricarde signed articles with the Parliamentary commissioners that allowed his departure from Ireland. In August he was excepted from pardon for life and estate, but by permits, renewed from time to time by the council, he was enabled to remain in England for the rest of his life.

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