Richard "the Iron" Bourke

Risdeárd an Iarainn Bourke, 18th lord of Mac William Iochtar, died 1583.

Burke was a son of David, the 15th Mac William Iochtar, by his second wife, Finola Ni Flaithbertaigh. He was second husband to Grace O'Malley (Gráinne Ní Mháille).

In English he was known as Richard Bourke, or "Iron Richard". In medieval Ireland Richard was a rare name, most found in Norman-origin families like the Bourkes. He was the father of several children, including Tibbot ne Long Bourke, 1st Viscount Mayo.

During the uneven anglicisation of Ireland in the 1500s, by the policy of "Surrender and regrant", Richard signed an agreement with the Crown in 1581 which uniquely left him in autonomous control of his part of County Mayo.

References

• The History of Mayo, Hubert T. Knox. 1908.
• Lower Mac William and Viscounts of Mayo, 1332-1649, in A New History of Ireland IX, pp. 235–36, Oxford, 1984 (reprinted 2002).