On this Day…………….12 February

On this day, 12 February, 1324, William ‘Liath’ de Burgo, the founder of the Franciscan Abbey in Galway, died. He was buried, not in the Franciscan Abbey in Galway; but in the Dominican Abbey at Athenry. William ‘liath’ or the ‘grey’ was a 1st cousin and right-hand man to Richard de Burgo, 2nd Earl of Ulster and Lord of Connacht, otherwise known as ‘Iarla Rua’- the Red Earl; who built the Hall of the Red Earl in, what is now called, Druid Lane.

By Ian Brophy

When William was born in 1260 in Co. Galway, his father, Sir William de Burgo was 30 years of age and his mother, Frances de Lamond of Duke Norfolk, was 31. He was called ‘liath’, the Gaelic word for ‘grey’; probably because of his hair colour.

He married Finola Ni Briain (Fionnuala O’Brien), daughter of Brian Ruad, King of Thomond, in 1290. She bore him 3 sons. He also had other children; in total, at least 10 sons and 1 daughter. He registered for military service in 1294. In 1303, he joined King Edward I in Scotland in the war then waged by that monarch against the Scots, and for his services there received from the King the custody of lands in the barony of Costello, Co. Mayo, belonging to the heir of Thomas FitzMaurice; of the Desmond line of the Geraldines. He spent much of his life fighting on behalf of his 1st cousin, Richard de Burgo, the Red Earl. From 1305 onwards he was lord of Connacht in all but name, allowing Richard, the Red Earl, to concentrate on the rest of his sprawling domains.

The fact that Connacht did not collapse during the Bruce invasion was primarily due to William’s ability and his strong ties to many of the leading Irish families of the province. In 1308, at the age of 48, his occupation was listed as custos or warden of Ireland. He was Justiciar of Ireland from 1 October, 1308, relinquishing office on 15 May, 1309. He was captured at the Battle of Connor in Ulster in 1315, when an army led by his cousin was defeated by an Irish-Scots army led by Edward Bruce. William was sent to Scotland upon being captured. His release was only obtained by the Red Earl in exchange for William’s son, Edmund, as hostage.

Returning from Scotland he was back in Connacht by July 1316 and assembled an army of Anglo-Norman colonists and Irish chieftains who had remained loyal to the Red Earl, and marched against Fedlimid O’Connor. On 10 August, after a particularly bloody battle at Athenry, William emerged victorious.

In 1296 William de Burgo, the ‘Grey’, began building a monastery, afterwards becoming known as St. Francis’ Abbey on the island of St. Stephen at the north side of the town of Galway. This is where the Courthouse is situated today.The name of St. Stephen’s Island suggests that at one time it may have served as a refuge for lepers; friends of St. Francis and his disciples. The archives of the monastery did not survive the Reformation, so very little is known of its early history. In 1645 Fr. Valentine Browne, Guardian of the Abbey, erected a monument to the founder William de Burgo. In 1657 the Cromwellian army destroyed all the buildings of the Abbey, except the church which was used as a courthouse. Funerary monuments, tombs, vaults and mausoleums were all destroyed during this period of religious suppression.

It would appear that the de Burgo memorial became buried beneath an accumulation of debris, as a result of all this vandalism and destruction. The friars returned to the area in 1689 when the buildings were reoccupied and repaired. Dispersion and exile were to follow yet again in 1698, following the Williamite /Jacobite war. The friars never abandoned hope of returning and built a small thatched chapel close by on Francis Street. In 1724 the friars repaired this small chapel. In 1781, they began to construct the current church. It was about this time that the de Burgo memorial was discovered 4 feet under the ground.

Under the direction of Friar Anthony Carroll, it was lifted and transported to the new Abbey Church , where it was placed in the wall near the sacristy entrance. A Latin inscription runs around the edge of this slab. The slab also depicts a long, broad sword and a shield bearing a version of the de Burgo arms with cross, lion rampant and the Red Hand of Ulster.

On this day, 12 February, 1324, William ‘Liath’ de Burgo, the founder of the Franciscan Abbey in Galway, died. He was buried, not in the Franciscan Abbey in Galway; but in the Dominican Abbey at Athenry.