Richard was born in 1572, the second but eldest surviving son of Ulick Burke[1] and his wife Honora Burke. His father was the 3rd Earl of Clanricarde. His father's family was Old English and descended from William de Burgh (died 1206) who arrived in Ireland during the reign of King Henry II, and was the founder of the House of Burgh in Ireland.[2]
His mother was a daughter of John Burke of Clogheroka and Tullyra, County Galway.[3] Her family was a cadet branch of his father's line.
Burke studied at Christ Church, Oxford from 1584 to 1598 and completed an M.A. degree.[4] Burke fought for Queen Elizabeth I against the rebel Irish lords and their Spanish allies during the Nine Years' War.
By 1633 he was not only one of the principal landowners in Ireland, but virtually all-powerful in County Galway. This aroused the resentment of the Dublin Government, which decided to use the method of empanelling juries to "find" defective titles, in order to recover the lands in question for the English Crown. In 1634 Strafford held such a jury in Portumna Castle. However the jury refused to deliver the desired verdict.[9]
Portumna Castle was commissioned by Richard Burke and completed in 1617.
Wentworth, however, pointed to the Earl's advancing years as the obvious cause, and asked sarcastically whether he was to blame for a man being over sixty. The feud, which was continued by Clanricarde's son and heir, was in the long run very damaging to Strafford, who apparently did not reflect on the close connections that Clanricarde, through his wife, had with just that faction of the English nobility, the Rich-Devereux clan, who were most hostile to Strafford.[11]
^Cokayne 1913, p. 230. "... 2nd but 1st surviv. s. [surviving son] and h. [heir] "
^Burke & Burke 1915, p. 454, right column. "William FitzAdelm was sent by Henry II, with Hugh de Lacie, into Ireland to receive the submission of Roderick O'Conor, King of Connaught."
^Cokayne 1913, p. 230, line 9. "He [the 3rd Earl] m. 25 Nov. 1564, at Athenry, co. Galway, Honora da. [daughter] of John Burke, of Clogheroka and Tullyra, co. Galway."
^Cokayne 1913, p. 230, line 14. "He matric. at Oxford (Ch. Ch.) 18 Dec. 1584, being then aged 12. M.A. 10 July 1698, as baro de Dunkellyn."
^Burke & Burke 1915, p. 456, right column, line 49. "Honora m. 1st Garratt McCoghlan of Clocnecknose, son and heir of Sir John McCoghlan, Knt., of Cloghan, King's Co. He d. [died] 17 April 1629, leaving issue. She m. 2ndly, about 1645, John, 5th Marquess of Winchester, and d. 10 March 1661 ..."
^Adams 1904, p. 317. "The Earl of Strafford held a council in the castle in 1634 to establish the King's title in Connaught. The jury, however, negatived the matter, whereupon the Earl arrested them and the sheriff, and sent them prisoners to Dublin."
^Cokayne 1913, p. 231, line 13. "He [the 4th Earl] d. [died] 12 Nov. 1635 and was bur. [buried] there [Tunbridge] aged about 63."
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