De Burgh

Who he is

Name

William de Burgh

Title

Baron of the Suir and Shannon castles; later seneschal of Munster (1201-03)

Since

Came with John in 1185; his Munster grants date from John's lordship (1185-99)

Born

About 1160, of a Norfolk family (Burgh and Tuttington)

Family

Elder brother of Hubert de Burgh, John's chamberlain, and of Geoffrey (later bishop of Ely). Married about 1193 a daughter of Domnall Mor Ua Briain, king of Thomond, so he is brother-in-law of the warring Ua Briain brothers and of Cathal Crobderg's wife Mor. Son Richard (the future lord of Connacht), a child.

Confidence

high

Founder of the Irish de Burghs. Founded the Augustinian priory of Athassel about 1200. Dies in the winter of 1205-06.

Overlord

King John

What it holds

• Castleconnell and Carrigogunnell on the Shannon above and below Limerick
• Ardpatrick (castle of 1198) in south Limerick
• Kilfeakle and Kilsheelan on the Suir
• Askeaton on the Deel (castle of 1199, traditionally his)
• Athassel (priory founded about 1200)
• A claim to Connacht by grant of John as lord (before 1195, inferred; never occupied)

How it was acquired

Grants of John as lord of Ireland (1185-99); Tibberaghny castle is added in 1200.

Allies and rivals

Ally and paymaster of Cathal Carrach; brother-in-law of the Ua Briain; John's favourite in Munster; will quarrel with the justiciar Meiler in 1203.

How things stand that morning

Holds his castles; the land between them from the Shannon to Fermoy was laid waste in the great war of the English on the Irish in 1199 (Mac Carthaigh's Book). He is ready to march into Connacht for Cathal Carrach.

Wealth

The Golden Vale and the Limerick plain; payments from Irish kings for his service.

Military

Castles at Castleconnell, Carrigogunnell, Ardpatrick, Askeaton, Kilfeakle and Kilsheelan; his knights and the English of Limerick and Munster. No figures.

Threats

• Cathal Crobderg's raids into Munster (Castleconnell is plundered in 1200)
• Domnall Mor Mac Carthaig of Desmond

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200 (not pinned)Leads the English of Munster and Limerick, with men from Leinster, Thomond and Dublin, into Connacht for Cathal Carrach, who has given him his son as surety for payment; Cathal Crobderg is driven north.Depends on: Cathal Carrach's payment and hostage Stopped by: Crobderg outbidding Carrach
2. 1200 (not pinned)Cathal Crobderg plunders Castleconnell, the Limerick market and Castle-Wilkin, killing knights and taking prisoners (Four Masters, 1200).Depends on: Crobderg's counter-raid Stopped by: Stronger garrisons
3. 1200Granted Tibberaghny castle.Depends on: Royal favour Stopped by: Disgrace

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201-02 (later course)Changes sides: brings Crobderg back and kills Cathal Carrach (1202); seneschal of Munster 1201-03.Depends on: Crobderg's offer Stopped by: Carrach's success

Places of note

• Castleconnell: Castle on the Shannon
• Carrigogunnell: Rock castle west of Limerick
• Ardpatrick: Castle built 1198
• Askeaton: Castle built 1199
• Athassel priory: Founded about 1200

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Castles from Wikipedia and Mac Carthaigh's Book; the Connacht grant is an inference of historians.

On the map: Castle districts only; the land between them was wasted in 1199. The Connacht claim is drawn as a claim, not a holding.

Primary sources for Lordship of Ireland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Clonmacnoise, Anonymous; English translation of a lost Irish chronicle by Conall Mac Geoghegan (medieval original lost; translated 1627). A midland chronicle, tied to Clonmacnoise and the kings of Meath and Connacht, surviving only in a 1627 translation. Read online
• Annals of Inisfallen, Anonymous (monks of Inisfallen, Kerry, and earlier of Emly and Lismore) (the manuscript was written in 1092 and continued at Inisfallen in many contemporary hands to 1450). The Munster chronicle, written in Kerry in a hand close to the events. Read online
• Annals of Loch Ce, Various (compiled for the Mac Diarmada of Moylurg) (compiled 1580s from older annals; the medieval section rests on a Connacht chronicle). The fullest Connacht account of the year: Cathal Carrach's seizure of the kingship, Cathal Crobderg's flight north, the Connacht expedition of de Courcy and the Ui Neill on Crobderg's behalf and its defeat, William de Burgh's role, and the devastation of the province's churches, with the names of the Connacht nobles and clergy who died. Read online
• Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, Various; compiled by Micheal O Cleirigh and others (1632 to 1636, from medieval annals now partly lost). A seventeenth century compilation but it draws on lost medieval annals, so its 1200 entries add names and incidents missing elsewhere: the Connacht war and the English of Meath and Munster, the deaths of Irish kings and churchmen across the island, and raids in Thomond and Desmond. Read online
• Annals of Ulster, Various; compiled by Cathal Mac Maghnusa (compiled about 1498 from much older annals; the entries for 1200 derive from contemporary record). The most reliable Irish annal for the north. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Mac Carthaigh's Book (Miscellaneous Irish Annals), Anonymous (a Munster compilation) (compiled in the later Middle Ages from Munster annals; manuscript of the 17th century). A Munster annal with a Mac Carthaig and Desmond slant, giving for the years around 1200 the kings of Desmond and Thomond, their wars with each other and with the English of Cork and Limerick, and the castles the settlers were building. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online

7 more in the sources library for The British Isles.