Roland de Burgo (died 20 June 1580) was an Irish

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

cleric who was Dean of Clonfert,

Bishop of Clonfert The Bishop of Clonfert () is an episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Clonfert in County Galway, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title; but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with oth ...

(1534–1580) and

Bishop of Elphin The Bishop of Elphin (; ) is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the village of Elphin, County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but ...

(1551–1580).

Background

Burke or de Burgo, was the grandson of Ulick Fionn Burke, 6th

Clanricarde Clanricarde ( ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Terr ...

(d. 1509) who had fought at the

Battle of Knockdoe A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

in 1504. He was a descendant of the

House of Burgh The House of Burgh (; ; ), also known by the family names of Burke and Bourke (), is an Ireland, Irish family, descending from the Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman de Burgh dynasty, who played a prominent role in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Irel ...

: the surname "de Burgo" is the latinised form of this name (with the

gaelicised Gaelicisation, or Gaelicization, is the act or process of making something Gaels, Gaelic or gaining characteristics of the ''Gaels'', a sub-branch of Celticisation. The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group, traditionally viewed as having spread fro ...

form being de Búrca or Búrc, later

Burke Burke (; ) is a Normans in Ireland, Norman-Irish surname, deriving from the ancient Anglo-Norman and Hiberno-Norman noble dynasty, the House of Burgh. In Ireland, the descendants of William de Burgh (''circa'' 1160–1206) had the surname'' de B ...

Career

De Burgo was the

papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

nominee A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

for the See of Clonfert since 1534, when he was Dean of Clonfert, and was consecrated on 8 June 1537. He accepted royal supremacy in 1538 and was confirmed or re-appointed by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

on 24 October 1541. De Burgo acknowledged papal authority in the reign of Queen

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

, but again accepted royal supremacy under Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

. He was described by the papal legate Fr David Wolfe, S.J. as an 'adherent of the Queen' in a letter of 12 October 1561. This letter has also been translated that he had 'taken the oath of allegiance to the queen'. He retained the deanery ''in commendam''. He was, from 23 November 1551, also

until his death. The

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

record his

obituary An obituary (wikt:obit#Etymology 2, obit for short) is an Article (publishing), article about a recently death, deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as Article (publishing), news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on p ...

as follows:

''Roland, the son of Redmond, son of Ulick Burke of Knocktua, Bishop of Clonfert, died; and the loss of this good man was the cause of great lamentation in his own country.''

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Annals of the Four Masters
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgo, Roland de 1580 deaths 16th-century Irish bishops

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...