Home › Clan & Family Names › Burke
Irish Family Name

Burke

de Búrca — “'of the burgh'; Anglo-Norman, from William Fitz Adelm de Burgo, who came with Henry II in 1171”
“Ung roy, ung foy, ung loy” · One king, one faith, one law — the Clanricarde motto
House colours from the family arms — this name has no clan tartan tradition
Irish formde Búrca
Historic titleEarl of Clanricarde; MacWilliam Íochtar
HeartlandCos. Galway & Mayo
RegionConnacht

Norman conquerors of Connacht who gaelicised completely. On the Brown Earl's murder in 1333 the leading Burkes adopted Brehon law, split the lordship and styled themselves MacWilliam Uachtar in Galway and MacWilliam Íochtar in Mayo.

Ancestral seats

  • Portumna Castle, Co. Galway
  • Rockfleet Castle, Co. Mayo

Where to walk in their footsteps

Access, opening hours and admission change. We confirm every site before it goes into an itinerary.

Portumna Castle, Co. Galway

Early 17th-century semi-fortified house of the Clanricarde Burkes, with gardens.

Claregalway Friary, Co. Galway

Franciscan friary of c.1250 under long Burke patronage; free national monument.

Also recorded as

de BurghBourkeBurk

Travelling to Burke country

Cashel Travel has arranged clan gatherings and heritage tours across Scotland and Ireland since the 1990s, including full gatherings for Clan Gordon, Hay, Keith, Lindsay, Hunter, Dunbar, Graham, Sutherland and MacLaren. We research the family history, build the itinerary around it, and arrange access to places that are not normally open to the public.

Plan a heritage tour