Editing Edmund Burke (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Edmund Burke (scan).jpg|thumb|Illustration from "Treasury of Irish eloquence, being a compendium of Irish oratory and literature" (1882)]]
[[File:Edmund Burke EMWEA.jpg|thumb|Edmund Burke]]
Burke was born in [[Dublin]], Ireland. His mother Mary, ''née'' Nagle, was a Roman Catholic who hailed from a [[County Cork]] family and a cousin of the Catholic educator [[Nano Nagle]], whereas his father Richard, a successful solicitor, was a member of the [[Church of Ireland]]. It remains unclear whether this is the same Richard Burke who converted from Catholicism.<ref>Clark 2001, p. 26.</ref><ref>Paul Langford, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4019 Burke, Edmund (1729/30–1797)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226081852/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/4019 |date=26 February 2017 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008, accessed 18 October 2008.</ref> The [[House of Burgh|Burgh (Burke) dynasty]] descends from the [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] knight, [[William de Burgh]], who arrived in Ireland in 1185 following [[Henry II of England|Henry II's]] 1171 [[Norman invasion of Ireland|invasion of Ireland]] and is among the "chief Gall or [[Old English (Ireland)|Old English]] families that assimilated into Gaelic society" (the surname [[de Burgh]] (Latinised as ''de Burgo'') was [[Gaelicisation|gaelicised]] in [[Irish language|Irish]] as ''[[de Búrca]]'' or ''Búrc'' which over the centuries became [[Burke]]).<ref>[[James Prior (surgeon)|James Prior]], ''Life of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke. Fifth Edition'' (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854), p. 1.</ref>

Burke adhered to his father's faith and remained a practising [[Anglican]] throughout his life, unlike his sister Juliana, who was brought up as and remained a Roman Catholic.<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Brien|first=Connor Cruise|page=10|title=The Great Melody|date=1993}}</ref> Later, his political enemies repeatedly accused him of having been educated at the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] [[College of St. Omer]], near [[Calais]], France; and of harbouring secret Catholic sympathies at a time when membership in the Catholic Church would disqualify him from public office per [[Penal Laws (Ireland)|Penal Laws in Ireland]]. As Burke told [[Frances Crewe, Lady Crewe|Frances Crewe]]:

<blockquote>Mr. Burke's Enemies often endeavoured to convince the World that he had been bred up in the Catholic Faith, & that his Family were of it, & that he himself had been educated at St. Omer—but this was false, as his father was a regular practitioner of the Law at Dublin, which he could not be unless of the Established Church: & it so happened that though Mr. B was twice at Paris, he never happened to go through the Town of [[Saint-Omer|St. Omer]].<ref>"Extracts from Mr. Burke's Table-talk, at Crewe Hall. Written down by Mrs. Crewe, pp. 62.", ''Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society. Volume VII'' (London: Whittingham and Wilkins, 1862–63), pp. 52–53.</ref></blockquote>

After being elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]], Burke took the required [[Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)|oath of allegiance]] and [[Oath of abjuration (Great Britain and Ireland)|abjuration]], the [[oath of supremacy]] and the declaration against [[transubstantiation]].<ref>Clark, p. 26.</ref>

As a child, Burke sometimes spent time away from the unhealthy air of Dublin with his mother's family near [[Killavullen]] in the [[Munster Blackwater|Blackwater]] Valley in County Cork. He received his early education at a [[Quakers|Quaker]] school in [[Ballitore]], County Kildare, some {{convert|67|km}} from Dublin; and possibly like his cousin [[Nano Nagle]] at a [[Hedge school]] near Killavullen.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.distancesfrom.com/ie/distance-from-Dublin-to-Baltimore-Ireland/DistanceHistory/1830632.aspx?IsHistory=1&GMapHistoryID=1830632 |title=DistanceFrom.com Dublin, Ireland to Ballitore, Co. Kildare, Ireland |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=2014 |website=DistanceFrom.com |publisher=softusvista. |access-date=18 December 2014}}</ref> He remained in correspondence with his schoolmate from there, [[Mary Leadbeater]], the daughter of the school's owner, throughout his life.

In 1744, Burke started at [[Trinity College Dublin]],<ref>"Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College in the University of Dublin]] (1593–1860) [[George Dames Burtchaell]]/[[Thomas Ulick Sadleir]] p. 114: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935</ref> a Protestant [[university|establishment]] which up until 1793 did not permit Catholics to take [[academic degree|degrees]].<ref name="millbanksystems">{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1834/may/08/catholics-and-trinity-college-dublin |title=Catholics and Trinity College Dublin. |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=8 May 1834 |access-date=23 January 2014}}</ref> In 1747, he set up a debating society, Edmund Burke's Club, which in 1770 merged with Trinity's Historical Club to form the [[College Historical Society]], the oldest undergraduate society in the world. The minutes of the meetings of Burke's Club remain in the collection of the Historical Society. Burke graduated from Trinity in 1748. Burke's father wanted him to read Law and with this in mind, he went to London in 1750, where he entered the [[Middle Temple]], before soon giving up legal study to travel in [[Continental Europe]]. After eschewing the Law, he pursued a livelihood through writing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Edmund Burke|url=http://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_burke.html|publisher=The Basics of Philosophy|access-date=21 March 2017|archive-date=24 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724003327/https://www.philosophybasics.com/philosophers_burke.html|url-status=live}}</ref>