He succeeded as
Earl of Mayo on the
assassination of his father
Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo in 1872. He was educated at
Eton, and was an officer in the
10th Hussars and the
Grenadier Guards. In 1890 he was elected as an
Irish representative peer and took his seat in the
House of Lords. He was appointed a Knight of the
Order of St Patrick on 3 February 1905. He was one of the four landlord representatives during the 1902
Land Conference. Between 1921 and 1922 he served in the
Senate of Southern Ireland. He was nominated by
W. T. Cosgrave to the
Seanad of the
Irish Free State on its formation in 1922. He was nominated for 12 years and served until his death in 1927. He owned 7,800 acres mostly in Kildare and Meath. ==Family==