The
Bourkes of Clan
William
by
James Greene Barry, J.P. -- originally published in the Journal of the Royal
Society of Antiquaries of Ireland in 1889.
Few of the Anglo-Norman adventurers who
accompanied Strongbow and Henry II in the twelfth century acquired such
possessions in Ireland, or attained to such honors and power, as the family of
De Burgh or De Burgo; or as the name came to be spelled subsequently, Burke or
Bourke. The progenitor of this powerful family was William Fitz-Adelm de Burgh,
who got immense grants of land from Henry in Leinster, Munster and Connaught.
His Lordship in Munster included the most fertile portions of the present
counties of Limerick and Tipperary, called after him the Baronies of West and
East Clan William. He made his chief residence at Athassel, on the banks of the
river Suir, in the midst of the Golden Vale of East Clan William. He there
erected a castle and laid the foundation of a Priory of Augustinian Canons about
A.D. 1200.
In after years this humble religious
foundation, owing to the munificence of his descendants, developed into that
noble Abbey, the picturesque remains of which to this day bear testimony to the
piety and bounty of the Bourkes of Clan William.
Castleconnell, picturesquely situated on a
rock overlooking the Shannon, about six miles north of Limerick, became the
principal castle of the Bourkes in West Clan William. This was the ancient seat
of the O'Conaings, and took their name Caislean-ui-Chonaine. It subsequently
fell into the possession of the O'Brien's of Thomond.
King John made a grant of Castleconnell,
with five knights' fees, to William de Burgh, who erected a strong castle there.
Walter De Burgh, about the end of the thirteenth century, considerably enlarged
and strengthened this castle, which was the chief stronghold of his descendants
at the end of the sixteenth century.
The Lords of Castleconnell and Brittas were
descended from Edmond (Mac-an-Iarla), a younger son of Richard De Burgh,
"The Red Earl of Ulster," whose father Walter, through his marriage
with Maud, only daughter and heiress of Hugh De Lacey, had succeeded to the
Earldom of Ulster and Lordship of Meath. The tragic death of Edmond Mac-an-Iarla
is worth recording here, as it gives an insight into those sanguinary family
feuds characteristic of Ireland in the fourteenth century. William De Burgh (the
Brown Earl, who was assassinated at Carrickfergus by his uncle, Richard de
Mandeville), by his marriage with Maud, daughter of Henry Plantagenet, Earl of
Lancaster, left at his death in 1333, an only daughter, a minor.
Edmond Mac-an-Iarla was her guardian, and
assumed in his own right the Lordship of Connaught. He also aspired during his
ward's minority to the Earldom of Ulster. His pretensions in due course caused a
serious family feud. A powerful faction of the Bourkes, under the leadership of
Edmond Albanach Bourke, adhered to the fortunes of the youthful heiress.
On Low Sunday, A.D. 1337, while
Mac-an-Iarla, with some of his kinsmen and adherents, were partaking of the
hospitality of the Augustinian Friars in the town of Ballinrobe, a band of armed
men, headed by Edmond Albanach, forcibly entered the monastery and seized
Mac-an-Iarla after a stout resistance. Several gentlemen of the Bourkes were
killed in the melee, and Mac-an- Iarla was carried as a prisoner to Lough Mask
Castle some two miles distant. The following night he was removed to Ballydonagh
Castle, at the south end of Lough Mask, and on the third day was carried across
the lake to another stronghold of the Bourkes situated on an island since known
as Oilean-an-Iarla (the Earl's Island).
The Archbishop of Tuam and the principal
gentlemen of the Bourkes were here assembled, tradition says, to effect a
reconciliation between the rival factions, and that their efforts were about
being crowned with success but for the tragedy which followed.
The principal retainers of Edmond Albanach,
Stauntons by name, had taken an active part in the outrage at the monastery in
Ballinrobe, and as we learn from O'Flaherty in his Iar-Connaught,
"Despairing of their own safety, if he was set at liberty, they turned him
(Edmond) into a bag, and cast him out of the island into the lake, with stones
tied to the bag, for which fact they were called Clan Ulcin ever since ... Hence
followed great combustions and wars in Connaught after." It is a curious
fact, in corroboration of this tradition, that the Stauntons of Mayo, who were
descended from an Englishman, a retainer of the Red Earl whom he had knighted on
the field of battle, changed their name to Mac Evilly (Mac-a-mhilid) the
"Son of the Knight."
Edmond Mac-an-Iarla left several sons by his
wife Slainy, daughter of Turlogh O'Brien, Lord of Thomond. These sons took an
active part in the "combustions and wars" which ensued on the death of
their father. Finally, the eldest, with the powerful assistance of his kinsmen,
the O'Brien, established himself at Castleconnell, and was recognized as the
chief of the Clan William Bourkes. Sir William de Burgo assumed the Celtic title
of Mac William Uachtar (Lord of Galway), while his brother Sir Edmond, took that
of Mac William Iochtar (Lord of Mayo) - thus dividing the Lordship of Connaught
between them, and throwing off the English yoke at the same time.
In the sixteenth century his descendants
took an active part in the great Desmond wars, which eventuated in the
confiscation of the princely territory of the Earl of Desmond in the counties of
Limerick, Cork and Kerry. Sir William Bourke of Castleconnell, who was married
to Catherine, daughter of the 15th or "Great" Earl of Desmond,
suffered heavily by the part he took in the war of 1569-75.
On the occasion of Sir Henry Sidney's, the
Lord Deputy's, visit to Limerick in 1575, Sir William and his kinsmen came in
and made their submission, and were "restored to the Queen's favor, and
confirmed in their estates."
On the landing of the Spaniards in Smerwick
Bay, A.D. 1579, James Fitzmaurice, Pierse de Lacy, and other confederate chiefs,
made every effort to seduce the Clan William Bourkes from their allegiance and
to induce them once more to cast in their lot with the Desmonds. Sir William and
his kinsmen, however, remained staunch to their promises, and steadfastly
declined all overtures.
Fitzmaurice thereupon turned for assistance
to his relatives in Connaught, and in attempting to force his way through the
Bourke country, encountered his kinsmen in a wood close to the present
Barrington's bridge. There are many versions of this sanguinary fight, but the
following is the most graphic:
James Fitzmaurice having designed to go into
Connaught to procure sufficient aid, and coming into the Bourke country, ordered
his men to take the first horses they met for his use, which they did out of a
plough land belonging to Sir William Bourke. The ploughman thereupon set up a
hue and cry, which Sir William and his sons hearing of, with some kerns,
followed the track, and at last overtook his cousin Fitzmaurice in a wood, who
seeing Sir William's eldest son, addressed himself to him saying: Cousin
Theobald, the taking of garrons between you and me shall be no breach: if you
knew the cause we have no in hand you would assist us; and then related to him
the assistance he had from the Pope and the King of Spain.
To which Theobald Bourke replied that he and
his father and brethren had too much meddled that way already, and had cause to
curse the day when they first opposed the Queen's authority; and that having
sworn fidelity they were resolved never more to break it, which answer not being
at all agreeable to Fitzmaurice, he refused to part with the garrons he had
taken; and thereupon happened an encounter, wherein Theobald and his younger
brother Richard were killed, and on the other side James Fitzmaurice and most of
his followers had the same fortune.
The Annals of the Four Masters give
the following account of this fight:
James Fitzmorris went through the middle of
Clan William and proceeded to plunder the country as they went along. The
country began to assemble to poopse them; and first of all the sons of William
Bourke, son of Edmond, namely Theobald and Ulick. Theobald dispatched messengers
to Tuath-aesa-Greine summoning Mac-I-Brien Ara to came and banish the traitor
from the country. Mac-I-Brien sent a body of gallow-glasses and soldiers to
Theobald. These then went in pursuit of these heroic bands, and overtook James,
who had halted in a dense and solitary wood to await their approach. A battle
was fought between both forces, in which James was shot with a ball in the
hollow of his chest, which caused his death. Notwithstanding this, he defeated
his lordly pursuers. In this conflict a lamentable death took place, namely that
of Theobald Bourke, a young warrior, who was a worthy heir to an earldom for his
velour and military skill, and his knowledge of the English language and law.
The Bourkes cut off Fitzmaurice head,
placing it over the gate at Castleconnell; they sent his quarters to the Lord
President, who set them over the gates of Kilmallock, which was the principal
town of the Desmonds in the county of Limerick. Theobald Bourke, who lost his
life this encounter, was a notable personage, not alone as heir to the Lordship
of Castleconnell, but as one who had made a name for himself in that warlike age
as a warrior and leader of men.
This encounter resulted in bringing the
loyal conduct of the Bourkes prominently before Elizabeth. The Queen wrote Sir
William Bourke a letter of condolence on the loss of his sons, and as a mark of
her favor created him a peer, by letters patent, dated May 16th, 1580, with the
title of Lord Baron Bourke of Castleconnell. He was given an annuity of two
hundred marks. Theobald Bourke, Sir William's eldest son, was married to Lady
Mary, daughter of Donagh Ramhar O'Brien, Earl of Thomond, and left at his death
four sons. The eldest, John, succeeded his grandfather as second Lord
Castleconnell in 1584. He appears to have held aloof from all the intrigues and
fighting so rife in Ireland at that period. While in London in 1592 however, he
got into an altercation with a Captain Arnold Cosby, an English adventurer who
had profited by the Desmond confiscations. A duel was the result. Both parties,
with their seconds, met on horseback, according to the Irish custom, on Hounslow
Heath. Cosby proposed that the quarrel should be settled on foot, which was
agreed to. Lord Castleconnell, having dismounted, was in the act of taking off
his spurs when he was attacked by Cosby, who ran him through the body before the
seconds had time to interfere. Cosby was arrested and tried for the treacherous
act. He was found guilty of murder, on the evidence of those who were present,
and was hanged on the spot where Lord Castleconnell fell. In the Annals of
Limerick this event is thus commemorated:
A.D. 1592, John Bourke, Lord
Castleconnell, was basely slain
By Captain Arnold Cosby - for they twain
Resolved to fight; but Cosby stops -
demurs,
Prays Castleconnell to take off his
spurs:
And as he stoop'd, yielding to his
request,
Cosby most basely stabb'd him in the
breast;
Gave twenty-one, all dreadful wounds -
base act,
And Cosby only hang'd for the horrid
fact.
Richard Bourke succeeded his brother as
third Lord. His life was a short but a merry one, as far as fighting went.
Although he could not be seduced from his allegiance to Elizabeth, and helf
aloof from the Desmond rising of 1598, we find him one day skirmishing with the
retainers of the "Sugan Earl"; another day, slaying in a cavalry
charge no less a personage than the Lord President of Munster; again, settling
an agrarian dispute with his relatives of O'Briens of Thomond, by force of arms.
Sir Thomas Norris, the Lord President, took up his quarters in the town of
Kilmallock in the Spring of 1598. It was his custom to ride out daily, with a
strong escort of horse, to scour the adjoining hostile country of the Desmonds.
In one of these raids, in the direction of Kilteely, close to the Bourke
country, he came across a strong body of horse, under the command of Thomas
Bourke, brother of Lord Castleconnell, who were likewise on a reconnoitering
expedition. Bourke, observing what appeared to him as a hostile party
approaching, could not resist the temptation for a fight - explanations might
come afterwards. He and his men charged home, shouting their war-cry, Gareach-
aboo. The Lord President, nothing loth, met them in full career, when a bloody
fight ensued, which resulted in the death of Sir Thomas Norris and the defeat of
his escort. It is to be presumed that the Bourkes apologized for their mistake,
as no reprisals were made by Sir George Carew, who succeeded as Lord President.
In the autumn of the same year Lord
Castleconnell had an encounter with the O'Briens, on the Limerick side of
O'Brien's Bridge.
On the death of Murrogh, four Baron of
Inchiquin, who was drowned in Lough Erne, a dispute arose between his widow,
Lady Margaret, daughter of Lord Chancellor Cusack, and Lord Castleconnell, about
a town land called Portcrosi, now Portcrussa, lying along the Shannon and
adjoining Castleconnell. Lady Margaret, with her sons and retainers, crossed the
Shannon, with the intentions of cutting and bringing home the harvest then ripe
on these lands. Lord Castleconnell thereupon assembled the Bourkes, and attacked
the harvesters before they had accomplished their purpose. A fierce fight
ensued, many gentlemen were slain on each side, among others Ulick Bourke, uncle
of Lord Castleconnell. The O'Briens were driven across the Shannon without their
harvest, which the Bourkes secured in peace as the fruits of their prowess.
Early in the following year Lord Mounjoy
came over to Ireland as Lord Deputy. In conjunction with Carew he carried fire
and sword into the Desmond country, and took effectual steps for breaking up the
league. He put a price of 1000 pounds on the heads of Tyrone and the Sugan Earl.
Dermot O'Connor, who had taken an active
part with Tyrone, had been sent to aid the Munster confederacy. He was closely
related to the Desmonds, having married Lady Margaret, daughter of Gerald, the
sixteenth Earl, who was so foully murdered in 1584, and whose immense estates,
some 800,000 acres, were then confiscated. O'Connor, having collected some 1400
bonoghs in Connaught, with a strong body of horse, reached safely Owney
(Abington), the Pass into Clan William. Lord Castleconnell, with his brother
Thomas, mustered the Bourkes, and opposed his passage. With the assistance of
his neighbors, the O'Ryans, they kept up a running fight with O'Connor, who had
succeeded in forcing the Pass at Owney for eight miles, until they reached the
confines of the Clangibbon country. At the bridge of Bunbristy O'Connor made a
stand, having received assistance from the garrison of Lough Gur Castle, which
was a stronghold of the Desmonds. A fierce engagement followed. Finally, Lord
Castleconnell and his brother were slain in an attempt to force the passage of
the bridge, whereupon the Bourkes retired, allowing O'Connor to form a junction
with the Desmonds. Thus died in harness the third and fourth Lords of
Castleconnell, "though young in years," we are told, "they were
manly in renown and noble deeds."
Dermot O'Connor was a mere mercenary,
willing to sell his sword or his country to the highest bidder. His wife seems
to have been endowed with the spirit of intrigue. Before the year was out she
entered into negotiations with Carew, with the object of earning the reward of
1000 pounds offered by him for the capture of the "Sugan Earl." After
several unsuccessful attempts O'Connor succeeded by stratagem in securing the
person of the Earl, whom he sent with a strong escort to Castlelisheen, near
Dromcollagher, where the Lady Margaret had established herself. She at once
communicated the news to Carew, who immediately set out from Kilmallock, but the
Earl was rescued before the Lord President arrived. Dermot O'Connor, when his
treacherous conduct was found out, fled for safety with his bonoghs to
Ballyalinan Castle (near Rathkeale). Here he as besieged by the confederates;
but fearing that the castle would be taken before Carew could come to his
assistance, he surrendered, and made his peace with the Desmonds. He soon after
applied for, and got, a safe-conduct into Connaught from the Lord President for
himself and his bonoghs. Fearing to venture far into the Bourke country,
O'Connor kept along the Shannon, passed by Limerick during the night, and
attempted the passage of the Shannon at a ford above the city (Athlunkard).
Theobald Bourke, who had assumed the chieftainship of the Bourkes on the death
of his brothers at Bunbristy, having had notice that O'Connor was attempting to
steal a march on him, collected his retainers, and with the assistance of his
friends in the city attacked the bonoghs as they were crossing into Thomond.
O'Connor, however, successfully crossed the river, with the loss of 100 men and
a large part of the prey which the Connaught-men were laden with. The Limerick
Corporation had to mourn the loss of one of their members in this encounter, a
gallant alderman named Roche.
Dermot O'Connor, in October of 1600, entered
into an agreement with Carew to join him against the Confederates. He got a
safe- conduct from Carew, and an escort of 100 foot from Lord Clanricarde to see
him safely through the O'Shaughnessy country (Gort) and Thomond. He was,
however, overtaken on the confines of the Inchiquin territory by Theobald na
longa Bourke. After a fierce fight, O'Connor and the survivors of his escort
retired into a ruined church, and there defended themselves bravely. Bourke set
fire to the buildings, and Dermot O'Connor, with forty of his men, were slain.
Theobald na longa sent Dermot's head as a present to Castleconnell, and wrote to
Lord Clanricarde demanding protection as he had merely slain O'Connor to revenge
the deaths of his cousins at Bunbristy. This Theobald na longa (of the ships)
was a son of Sir Richard Fitzdavid Bourke, McWilliams Oughter, and the
celebrated Grace O'Malley, Granuaile. He was created Viscount Bourke of mayo in
1627. These Bourkes evidently respected the old saw:
A bed death, a priest's death,
A straw death, a cow death -
Such death likes not me.
Within the space of twenty-one years six of
the sons and grandsons of Sir William Bourke, Lord Castleconnell, died with
sword in hand, with their faces to the foe. Within the same period, five of the
direct descendants of James, 15th Earl of Desmond, father-in-law of Lord
Castleconnell, died fighting for the Desmond cause and the broad lands of their
fathers. The last spark of the Desmond conflagration, which had consumed, for
half a century, the fairest portion of Munster, was not extinguished until the
premature death, in the Tower of London in 1608, of the Sugan Earl, whose base
betrayal for a reward of œ1000, by his kinsman, the "White Knight,"
is a sad and disgraceful episode of Irish history.
The most notable member of the Bourkes
during the first years of the 17th century was Sir John Bourke, of Brittas, the
"Captain of Clan William," a man of great influence and power. Through
his mother he was nearly related to the O'Ryans, Chiefs of Owney, and the
"White Knight." He was step-brother of the celebrated Confederate
leader, Piers de Lacy, of Ballygrennan Castle, Bruff. After his tragic death in
1607, his castle of Brittas, and estates were granted to his cousin Theobald
Bourke. This Theobald was uncle and guardian of the youthful Lord Castleconnell,
and claimed to be chief of the Bourkes. He assumed the title of Lord
Castleconnell during the minority of his nephew, and actually sat as a Peer in
the Parliament of 1613.
Edmund, son of Thomas, 4th Lord
Castleconnell, was educated in England at the instance of Sir Thomas Brown of
Hospital, whose daughter Thomasin he subsequently married. On his coming of age
in 1617, his legitimacy - question by Theobald - was established. Theobald
Bourke, having conformed, was created Lord Bourke Baron Brittas by letters
patent, dated 28th January 1618; but still refusing to surrender the castle and
lands of Castleconnell to his nephew, he was arrested by order of the Lord
Deputy and imprisoned in Dublin Castle in the spring of 1619. Before the winter
set in he appeared more amenable. He petitioned the Lord Deputy and gave
security, agreeing not to further interfere with his nephew, and was released.
Lord Brittas married Lady Margaret Bourke, daughter of Richard, second Earl of
Clanricarde.
The following twenty years seem to have been
uneventful in the Bourke family. When Sir Thomas Wentworth - afterwards better
known as Black Tom, Earl of Strafford - came as Lord Deputy in 1632, a spirit of
toleration had succeeded the religious persecutions of the early part of the
century. Most of the gentry who had then conformed returned to the religion of
their fathers, and brought up their children unmolested in the old faith. When
the Civil War broke out in 1641-2, both Lord Castleconnell and Brittas cast in
their lots with the Confederate Catholics. William, sixth Lord Castleconnell,
who sat among the Peers in the General Assembly in Kilkenny in 1642, raised a
regiment of horse which took no inglorious part in the seven years' war which
followed. His cousin, William Bourke, second son of Lord Brittas, was
Lieutenant-Colonel in this regiment. He was taken prisoner by the Cromwellians
in an engagement near Cork in 1653, and was executed next day, leaving an only
son, who succeeded as third Lord Brittas. Theobald Lord Brittas and Lord
Castleconnell were attainted and their estates confiscated. the following is a
copy of the translators' certificate given to Lord Brittas:
We, the said Commissioners do hereby
certify, that Theobald Bourke, Lord Baron of Brittas, in the county of Limerick
hath, upon the 19th day of November 1653, in pursuance of a declaration of the
Commissioners of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England for the affairs
of Ireland, bearing date the 14th of October 1653, delivered unto us, in
writing, the names of himself and such other persons as are to remove with him,
with the quantities and qualities of their stocks and tillage; the contents
whereof are as followeth, viz: - The said Theobald, Lord Baron of Brittas, aged
seventy-five years, red-gray hair, slender face. The Lady Margaret, his wife,
aged sixty years, gray hair, slender face. Margaret and Mary, daughters to Sir
John Bourke (2nd Lord Brittas), under the age of twelve years. Thomas Bourke,
his servant, aged twenty years, slender face, yellow hair. Daniel O'Bruoder,
aged forty years, gray hair, slender face, and lame of one leg. Robert Lenane,
aged sixty years, gray hair, full face. Shryilly Maley, aged eighteen years.
Shryilly na Bruoder, aged forty years, gray hair, middle stature. Catherine
Grady, maid servant, aged thirty years, full face, middle stature, black hair.
Any Mahoney, aged thirty-six years, gray hair, full face, middle stature. His
substance - three cows, one gelding, two garrans, and six hogs, for which he
payeth contribution. The substance whereof we believe to be true.
Margaret, Lady Dowager of Castleconnell, is
described in her certificate, dated 19th of December 1653, as "aged seventy
years, middle stature, flaxen hair ... Her substance, twenty cows, twenty sheep,
ten mares and garrans, and two riding nags: four sows, six acres of winter corn,
out of which she pays contribution." Twenty-seven servants and retainers
are also named and described who are to move with her. This Lady Castleconnell
was widow of Donough O'Brien, of Carrigogunnell, and had from his as jointure
lands, three plough lands in Clare, 720 acres, Cratloe (2), and Portdrine; also
portion of the lands of Corbally (Tervoe), all of which were confiscated. The
following are the names of some of the Clan William Bourkes who were
transplanted and lost their estates at this time:
1. William, Lord Castleconnell, and his
wife, Lady Ellen (daughter of Maurice Roche, Viscount Fermoy).
2. Sir John Bourke and his wife, Lady
Margaret (daughter of Thomas Fitzmaurice, Lord Kerry).
3. Sir David Bourke, of Kilpeacon, his wife
and four sons, Oliver, Edmond, Patrick and David.
4. Theobald Bourke of Ballynagarde.
5. Richard Bourke of Caherconlish.
6. Walter Bourke of Luddenbeg.
7. Edmond Bourke of Ballysimon.
8. John Bourke and his brother, of
Kissyquirke and Lismolane.
9. John Bourke of Ludden Castle.
10. Richard Bourke of Kilcoolen.
11. Edmond Bourke of Carrigmartin.
12. Richard Bourke of Ballyvarra.
13. William Bourke of Killonan.
14. Thomas Bourke of Ballylusky.
15. Thomas Bourke of Cahernany.
There are the names of forty-nine Bourkes in
the Book of Transplanters' Certificates from the county of Limerick. By order of
Parliament dated March 22nd 1653, the estates of Lord Brittas, in the barony of
Clan William, county Limerick, were granted to Sir Charles Coote in lieu of his
claim for œ1200.
On the accession of Charles II the attainder
was reversed in the cases of Lord Castleconnell and Lord Brittas, and their
estates were restored in part under the Act of Settlement.
Lord Castleconnell, who had joined the
King's standard beyond the seas, returned at the Restoration, and was named in
the King's Declaration among those who had faithfully served under the King's
Ensigns.
In his Petition he says he served "Your
Royal Majesty five or six years in the Netherlands, trailing a pike in the Duke
of York's Regiment. He understood no miseries, but now he has run in debt for
food and raiment, and is at the end of his credit, in imminent hazard of
imprisonment for his debts, and unable further to subsist, if your Majesties
relieve him not." The Duke of Ormond, his relative, succeeded in getting
him a temporary pension from the king of 1000 pounds a year, which was not,
however, paid with regularity. He writes to the Duke of Ormond, complaining,
"My Lord, as to my father, who pretended the honor of a near relative to
your Grace and the Duchess's family, and by the means of your ancestor, Thomas,
Earl of Ormond, was bred in his home. I doe take the presumption to open my
miserable condition to your Grace, and doe expect no less favor from you. I am
confident your Grace knows how faithfully I served His Majesties and your Grace
at home and abroad, and am during my life resolved to dispose of myself as your
Grace shall think fitte.
"Therefore, I humbly beg your Grace's
pardon that I plainly open my unfortunate grievance; for on my word, my Lord, I
was forced, as Captain Hennessey can inform your Grace, to pawn the very clothes
I had for to bring me out of Dublin, and ever since had a mind to wait on your
Grace. I was not able to appear for want of clothes, my wife and children being
ready to forsake house and home, and all the little stocked I had being taken
for rent. Sir Valentine Brown and Sir Edward Fitzharris being engaged for what
monies brought me to Ireland, are like to suffer for me. I beg of your Grace to
send Sir George Lane or Secretary Page to Sir Daniel Bellingham to cause him to
see me satisfied my arrears, and your Grace will ever oblige him that is
"Your Grace's
"Most obedient faithful Servant,
"Castleconnell
"Castledrohid, April 3,
1667."
This pension was reduced to 100 pounds a
year, and was badly paid, as it was in arrear at Michaelmas, 1680. Lord Brittas
likewise received a pension of 100 pounds a year.
William, eighth Lord Castleconnell was Lord
Lieutenant of the County and City of Limerick. He sat in the Parliament of
1687-9, eighth in precedence among the Barons. He was second Lieutenant- Colonel
in Colonel Hugh Sutherland's Regiment of Horse, and fought at Aughrim. He
retired to France with James, and there died unmarried, when the title devolved
on John, fourth Lord Brittas, whose father, Theobald, was married to Honora,
Daughter of the Earl of Inchiquin (Morrogh-an-Toitean).
Theobald, Lord Brittas, who also sat in the
Parliament of 1687-9, as tenth Baron in the roll of precedence, raised a
regiment of horse, and served up to the end of the war, when he also returned to
France, his estates and those of Lord Castleconnell having been confiscated.
During the siege of Limerick, September
1691, Brigadier-General Levison surprised the cavalry camp of the Irish between
Sixmile- Bridge and New market, and took many prisoners, including the Dowager
Lady Castleconnell. Lord Brittas, with his troop, made good their escape into
Limerick.
John, fourth Lord Brittas and ninth Lord
Castleconnell, served in the Irish Brigade. He married Catherine, daughter of
Colonel Gordon O'Neill, and left two sons, John (fifth Lord Brittas), a captain
in the French army, who died unmarried, and Thomas, a General in the Sardinian
army. According to Ferrar's History of Limerick, General Bourke was living in
France in 1787. We are told that "he was a disinterested friend to his
countrymen abroad." The king once said to him, "Bourke, you have
solicited many favors for your Irish friends, but never asked one for
yourself." His son was a captain in the Regiment of Rothe, and was a Knight
of St. Louis. He died unmarried about 1796, when the direct line of the Bourkes
of Clan William became extinct.
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