Murderous end of the ” Brown Earl ” of Ulster

The most bitter quarrel of all, and one which had most important results, was that which ended in the assassination of the last De Burgh Earl of ” Ulster.” The ” Red Earl ” had died in 1326 in the monastery of Athaisil He had been succeeded by his grandson, the ” Brown Earl.” William De Burgh, the brother of the Red Earl and one of the victors at Athenry, had died in 1324.

Between William’s son, Walter, and the Brown Earl, some fighting took place, and eventually Walter De Burgh was treacherously captured, and starved to death in the Brown Earl’s castle of Greencastle in Inis Eoghain.

Walter’s brother-in-law, Sir Richard Mandeville, in revenge suddenly fell upon the Brown Earl, and murdered him near Carrickfergus (1333).

The Earl left an only child, an infant girl, who was carried off to England, and the last of the Lordships thus met the same fate that had befallen all the others.