The House of Burgh (English: /bɜːr/; ber; French pronunciation: [buʁ]), also known by the family names of Burke and Bourke (Irish: de Búrca), is an Irish family, descending from the Anglo-Norman de Burgh dynasty, who played a prominent role in the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland, where they settled and attained the earldoms of Kent, Ulster, Clanricarde, and Mayo at various times, and they have provided queens consort of Scotland and Thomond and Kings of England via a matrilineal line. The original (Ulster) line became extinct in 1363, along with the Clanricarde line in 1916, though the Mayo line is represented by the current Earl of Mayo.
The patriarch of the de Burgh family in Ireland was William de Burgh, the elder brother of Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, who was Regent of England (and believed to be the ancestor of the Lords Burgh). William's descendants included the Lords of Connaught (Connacht), the Earls of Ulster and Clanricarde. His great-great-granddaughter, Elizabeth married King Robert I of Scots. Another descendant, Elizabeth, became the wife of King Edward III's son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, via whom they are ancestors of the Yorkist Plantagenet Kings of England; and through Edward IV's eldest daughter, Elizabeth, they are ancestors of the reigning British royal family.
