Edmond Albanach de Burgh

Edmond Albanach was the son of Sir William Liath de Burgh. He acquired his nickname from the time he spent in Scotland from the spring of 1316 as a hostage for his father, after the latter's release by Robert the Bruce.

The murder of his brother, Walter Liath de Burgh, in 1332, directly led to the destruction of the de Burgh Earldom of Ulster and Lordship of Connacht. Warfare between the de Burgh factions climaxed with the murder of a cousin, Edmond de Burgh of Clanwilliam by Albanach at Lough Mask in 1338. Albanch was driven from Connacht for this, but gathered a fleet which harassed the coast of Connacht till he was delivered a royal pardon in March 1340. He was able to maintain himself as the most powerful lord west of the Shannon, over the O'Conor's and Clanricardes'.

From the Annals of the Four Masters:

• M1335.4. The entire of the West of Connaught was desolated by Edmond Burke. Great evils were also wrought by him, both by burning and slaying, upon the son of the Earl and the race of Richard Burke. They afterwards made peace with one another.

De Burgh had two wives, Sadhbh Ni Maillie, daughter of Diarmuid mac Owen Ó Máille, with whom he had one son:

• Thomas mac Edmond Albanach Bourke, 2nd Mac William Íochtar, (d. 1402), married Una Ní Conchobair in 1397.

and Finola Ní Cellaigh with whom he may have fathered:

• William Saxonagh Bourke, died 1368
• Theobald, killed in 1374
• Richard, killed in 1377

Thomas de Burgh (d.1402) had five sons, each of whom succeeded each other in the Lordship of the Lower MacWilliam. The Fourth son was ancestor to the Earls of Mayo. His eldest son:-

• Walter de Burgh of Shruel (c1360- 1440) Lord of the Lower MacWilliam m. Sabia, a daughter of O'Brien, Lord of Thomond

his eldest son:-

• John of Shruel (1395–1445), acquired the property of Dromkeen, co. Limerick in 1420. m. a sister of the O'Brien.

his eldest son:-

• William 'The Black' or 'Dhue'(1418–1469) of Dromkeen m. Honore a daughter of one of his Clanricarde cousins

his eldest son:-

• Meyler (d.1495) Lord of Lebanon, succeeded by his son:- Richard (1465–1540) of Dromkeen, succeeded by his son:- Richard Og (1520–1595), succeeded by his son:- Ulick (b. 1575), succeeded by his son:- Richard (1600–1659), succeeded by his son:-
• Rt Rev Ulysees Burgh (1648–1693), Lord Bishop of Ardagh (Church of Ireland) m. Mary a daughter of Colonel William Kingsmill of Ballyowen co. Tipperary.

who had three sons:-

• Richard (b. 1666) of Dromkeen and Drumrusk, MP, whose estates were inherited by a cousin Walter Hussey who assumed the name Hussey de Burgh after the male line became extinct in 1778.
• Colonel Thomas de Burgh of Oldtown, MP. (1670–1730) Minister, Surveyor General of Ireland and architect of Trinity College Dublin Library.[1] From him descend the de Burgh's of Oldtown.[2]
• William de Burgh of Bert, MP (d. 1744) Comptroller and Accountant General for Ireland, grandfather of William de Burgh MP (1696–1754) Anti Slavery Campaigner.[3]

• Bourke family tree, p. 399, The History of Mayo, Hubert T. Knox, 1908
• Burgh, Sir Edmund Albanach de, David Beresford, in Dictionary of Irish Biography from the Earliest Times to the Year 2002, p. 3, Cambridge, 2010