ABSTRACT
The progenitor of the de Burghs (Burkes, Bourkes, de Búrca) in Ireland was William de Burgh, who is often given the epithet “the Conqueror.” He is not to be (although he sometimes is) confused with one William fitz Adelm (or Audelin), who filled the offices of seneschal and deputy to Henry II. The origins of the de Burgh family lie in Norfolk. William came to Ireland with the Lord John in 1185 and obtained a grant of land in Munster very soon after. De Burgh erected the castle of Kilfeakle in 1192. He maintained friendly relations with Domnall Mór Ua Briain, whose daughter he married around 1193. The marriage-alliance strengthened his position in Munster substantially and he soon started colonization. John made William a speculative grant of Connacht in 1195. He also held lands from Theobald Walter (ancestor of the Butlers) and was granted more lands by John in 1199 and 1201. By the early thirteenth century he held extensive lands in what are now counties Tipperary and Limerick. The de Burghs also intermarried with other prominent Irish families, such as the Uí Chonchobair and Uí Chellaig, and rapidly Gaelicized.
