Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster

Elizabeth de Burgh, Duchess of Clarence, suo jure 4th Countess of Ulster and 5th Baroness of Connaught (6 July 1332 – 10 December 1363) was a Norman-Irish noblewoman who married Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence.

Elizabeth de Burgh
Arms of de Burgh: Or, a cross gules
suo jure Countess of Ulster
Predecessor	William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl
Successor	Philippa Plantagenet, 5th Countess with Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March
jure uxoris Earl	Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence
Born	6 July 1332 Carrickfergus Castle, Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Ireland
Died	10 December 1363 (aged 31) Dublin, Ireland
Burial	Clare Priory, Suffolk
Spouse	Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence ​ ​ (m. 1352)​
Issue	Philippa Plantagenet, 5th Countess of Ulster
House	Burke
Father	William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster
Mother	Maud of Lancaster

Family

Elizabeth was born at Carrickfergus Castle near Belfast, Ireland, the only child of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster, and Maud of Lancaster, Countess of Ulster. She was the last of the senior legitimate line of the descendants of William de Burgh.[1] Her paternal grandparents were John de Burgh and Elizabeth de Clare, and her maternal grandparents were Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

Marriage

Upon William's murder on 6 June 1333 she became the sole legal heir to all the de Burgh lands in Ireland. Actually, her kinsmen Sir Edmond de Burgh of Clanwilliam, Sir Edmond Albanach Bourke the Mac William Iochtar, Sir Ulick Burke the Mac William Uachtar became the de facto heads of the family and owners of de Burgh land during the Burke Civil War.[1] This is because she was merely 11 months old at the time.

As Countess of Ulster she was raised in England and married Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence on 15 August 1352 at the Tower of London. He was the second son of Edward III of England and his queen consort, Philippa of Hainault. As a boy, the poet Geoffrey Chaucer served as page to Elizabeth.[2]

The couple had one child, Philippa, born on 16 August 1355. Philippa, who succeeded as Countess of Ulster, married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March in 1368. Both their titles passed to their son Roger Mortimer, and eventually through their granddaughter Anne de Mortimer, who married into the House of York. The House of York would base its claim to the English throne on their descent from Lionel of Antwerp.

Elizabeth died in Dublin in 1363 during her husband's term as Governor of Ireland. She is buried in Clare Priory, Suffolk, England.

Carrickfergus Castle, Elizabeth's birthplace

Ancestry

Ancestors of Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster

16. Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster 8. Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster[3] 17. Aveline FitzGeoffrey 4. John de Burgh[3] 18. Sir John de Burgh 9. Margaret de Burgh 19. Hawise of Lanvaley 2. William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster[4] 20. Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford 10. Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford[3] 21. Maud de Lacy 5. Elizabeth de Clare[3] 22. Edward I of England[3] 11. Joan of Acre[3] 23. Eleanor of Castile 1. Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster 24. Henry III of England 12. Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster 25. Eleanor of Provence 6. Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster 26. Robert I of Artois 13. Blanche of Artois 27. Matilda of Brabant 3. Maud of Lancaster[4] 28. Patrick de Chaworth, Lord of Kidwelly 14. Sir Patrick de Chaworth, Lord of Kidwelly 29. Hawise de London 7. Maud Chaworth 30. William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick 15. Isabella de Beauchamp 31. Maud FitzJohn

References

1. Curtis 2004, pp. 91–92.
2. Marion Turner, The Very Different Chaucer Connection in Ireland and England, Irish Times, 3 June 2019
3. Ward 2004. sfn error: no target: CITEREFWard2004 (help)
4. Weir 2008, pp. 96.

Works cited

• Curtis, Edmund (2004) [1950]. A History of Ireland (6th ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27949-6.
• Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5.