Richard the Red De Burgh

Male 1259 - 1326  (67 years)


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  • Name Richard the Red De Burgh 
    Born 1259  Ulster, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 29 Jul 1326  County Tipperary, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I148631  Little Chute Genealogy
    Last Modified 21 Aug 2007 

    Father Walter de Burgh,   b. cir 1220, Ulster, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1271, Castle of Galway, Connacht, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 51 years) 
    Mother Avelina Fitzjohn,   b. cir 1232, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1274  (Age ~ 42 years) 
    Family ID F59303  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Margaret de Burgh,   b. cir 1263, Walkern, Hertfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Children 
     1. Eleanor de Burgh,   b. 1282, Belfast, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Joan de Burgh,   b. 1290, Ulster, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Apr 1359, County Kildare, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 69 years)
    Last Modified 21 Jul 2022 
    Family ID F59302  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd earl of Ulster, the Red Earl. (1259 – July 29, 1326) was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a son of Walter de Burgh, the 1st Earl of Ulster (of the second creation) and Lord of Connacht. His name, "Richard Og" meant Richard the Young, probably a reference to his youth when he became earl in 1271, or to differentiate him from his grandfather, Richard Mor. He was also known as the Red Earl.

      Richard Og was the most powerful of the de Burgh Earls of Ulster, succeeding his father in Ulster and Connacht upon reaching his majority in 1280. He was a friend of King Edward I of England, and ranked first among the Earls of Ireland. Richard's wife Marguerite de Guines was the cousin of King Edward's queen. He pursued expansionist policies that often left him at odds with fellow Anglo-Irish lords.

      He led his forces from Ireland to support England's King Edward I in his Scottish campaigns and when the forces of Edward Bruce invaded Ulster in 1315, the Earl led a force against him, but was beaten at Connor in Antrim. The invasion of Bruce and the uprising of Felim O'Connor in Connacht left him virtually without authority in his lands, but O'Connor was killed in 1316 at the Second Battle of Athenry, and he was able to recover Ulster after the defeat of Bruce at Faughart.

      He died July 29, 1326 at Athassel Priory, near Cashel, County Tipperary. (Wikipedia) Richard de Burgh, was the 2nd Earl of Ulster, 3rd Lord of Connacht. His name, "Richard Og" meant Richard the Young, probably a reference to his youth when he became earl in 1271, or to differentiate him from his grandfather, Richard Mor. He was also known as the Red Earl. Richard Og was the most powerful of the de Burgh Earls of Ulster. He was a friend of King Edward I of England, and ranked first among the Earls of Ireland. Richard's wife Marguerite de Guines was the cousin of King Edward's queen. He pursued expansionist policies that often left him at odds with fellow Anglo-Irish lords; he successfully defeated the King Felim mac Aedh Ua Conchobair of Connacht at the Second Battle of Athenry in 1316. His sister, Egidia de Burgh, was wife of James the Stewart of Scotland. His second son, John de Burgh, was husband to Elizabeth de Clare, a granddaughter of Edward I of England. Of his daughters, Catherine married the Maurice Fitzgerald, 1st Earl of Desmond; Joan married the Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare; Avelina married John Earl of Louth; Matilda married Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester; and Elizabeth de Burgh married Robert the Bruce, later Robert I of Scotland. His son John died in 1313, leaving the succession to his infant son, William. (Wikipedia)

      Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, usually called the Red Earl, the most powerful subject in Ireland, and General of all the Irish forces in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and Gascoigne, was a great statesman and soldier. He founded the Carmelite Monastery at Longhrea, built the castle of Ballymote, Corran and Sligo, and eventually retired to the Monastery of Athassil, where he died 28 June, 1326. He married Margaret, daughter of John de Burgh, who was grandson of Hubert de Burgh, who was the most powerful nobleman of his time. They had five sons and six daughters. (Kin of Mellcene Thurman Smith, page 911)