Career
His father, John Burke, was Member of Parliament for the same constituency from 1830 to 1832. Sometime a Captain in the 1st Royals, he was best known for his love of sport, and his connection with horse racing is preserved through the Marble Hill Stakes annually run for at the Curragh. He has been described as "a genial, handsome man, exceedingly popular with the country people, but by no means as prudent and business like as his father".