Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster

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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.^[1] 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.^[1] 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.

His daughter Elizabeth was to become the second wife of King Robert the Bruce of Scotland. However, this did not stop him leading 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.^[1]

He died July 29, 1326 at Athassel Priory, near Cashel, County Tipperary.

[edit] Children and family

• Aveline de Burgh (b. c. 1280), married John de Bermingham, 1st Earl of Louth
• Eleanor de Burgh (1282 – aft. August 1324)
• Elizabeth de Burgh (c. 1284 – 26 October 1327), married Robert I of Scotland
• Walter de Burgh (c. 1285–1304)
• John de Burgh (c. 1286 – 18 January 1313)
• Matilda de Burgh (c. 1288–1320), married Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Hertford
• Thomas de Burgh (c. 1288–1316)
• Catherine de Burgh (c. 1296 – 1 November 1331), married Maurice Fitzgerald, 1st Earl of Desmond
• Edmond de Burgh (b. c. 1298)
• Joan de Burgh (c. 1300 – 23 April 1359), married Maurice FitzThomas FitzGerald, 4th Earl of Kildare

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Curtis, Edmund [1950] (2004). A History of Ireland, 6th ed., Routledge, 78, 83–86. ISBN 0415279496.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by: Walter de Burgh	Earl of Ulster 1271–1326	Succeeded by: William Donn de Burgh