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 Aedh O’Conor, who had succeeded his father in 1265. On this occasion De Burgh, who was then styled Earl of Ulster, was induced to give his brother William as a hostage to O’Conor. On his retreat he slew Turlough O’Brian with his own hands, in return Eur which the king of Connaught put William de Burgh to death (ib.) Next year (1271) De Burgh died in his castle of Galway, after a week’s illness (ib. 479; cf., ii. 929).

Besides his vast possessions in Connaught, De Burgh seems to have had other estates in Ireland. His father had received a grant of Desmond manor in ll Henry III (ap. Book of Howth), and from a document dated 8 Aug. 1253. We learn that the same Richard had held lands of Maurice Fitzgerald (, ii. 282). It was probably from some dispute as to these estates that the quarrel between De Burgh and the latter noble arose in 1264, on which occasion the ‘Earl of Ulster' seized all Fitzgeralds castles in Connaught, and ‘the major part of Erin was destroyed between them' (Loch Cé, 449; cf., 776). Peace seems to have been restored by 10 June 1265, if we may trust the terms of a letter of Henry III, exhorting De Burgh not to lend assistance to the rebellion of Prince Edward (ib.)

In the latter years of his life De Burgh appears to have been styled Earl of Ulster (Loch Cé, 449;, ii. 929). According to the generally accepted account, he inherited this earldom in right of his wife, Maud, who is said to have been daughter and heiress of Hugh de Laci, earl of Ulster, who died in 1242 (, iv. 232). There does not seem to be any evidence in support of this theory, which makes its first appearance in certain ‘Fragmenta Historiæ Hibericæ,’ preserved in a fifteenth-century manuscript (Bodley MS. Laud 526, ap., Chartularies of St. Mary‘s, Dublin, ii,), further back than which date no allusion to this Maud de Laci can be traced. Her name is not to be found in contemporary documents, which show that Walter de Laci’s wife-the mother of Richard, his son and successor in the earldom of Ulster-was Avelina or Amelina, third sister and coheiress of Richard FitzJohn (Cal. Geneal. ii. 540-l ,563;, iv. 638, 950, &c.) It is possible that he may have put forward some vague claim in virtue of his maternal descent from Walter de Laci, who held Ulster for a few years by the gift of King Henry (ib. i. 187l~2). But it is more likely that this dignity, which had passed through so many hands in the course of fifty gears, lapsed to the crown on the death of Hugh de Laci in 1242 or 1248; for there is abundance of evidence to prove that in the reign of Henry III Prince Edward, whom his father had created lord of Ireland in 1254, enfeoffed De Burgh with the ‘county of Ulster,’ in exchange for the manor of Kilsilau. This event is expressly said to have occurred when William de Rochelle was justiciar. i.e. between the years 1254 and 1256 (, ii. 860, 1520; Cal. Geneal. 288). It is this enfeoffment probably that Lodge refers to 1264; and it is to this direct grant of Prince Edward that we must trace the foundation of the De Burgh Ulster earldom rather than to a marriage with a fictitious daughter of Hugh de Laci.

De Burgh is said to have been buried in Athassel Abbey, the favourite foundation of his race. He was succeeded by his son Richard, a minor. According to Lodge, his other children were Theobald (d. 1303), William, and Thomas (d. 1315), ‘to whom some add Hubert and Gibbon.’ To these may be added Egidia, who married James Stuart of Scotland (, Documents, ii. 102).

 BURGH, WALTER HUSSEY (1742–1783), Irish statesman and orator, was the son of Ignatius Hussey of Donore, co. Kildare, and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas de Burgh of Oldtown, in the same county, and was born on 23 Aug. 1742. After attending the school of a Mr. Young in Abbey Street, Dublin, he entered the university, where he graduated B.A. in 1762. At the university he showed considerable proficiency in classics, and also distinguished himself by a poem written on the occasion of the marriage of George III. He adopted the additional name of Burgh on inheriting one half of the property of his maternal cousin, Richard Burgh of Drumkeen, who died in 1762. After entering the Temple, London, he was called to the Irish bar in 1769, and in November of that year he was elected member for Athy in the Irish parliament, through the influence