Lynch
It must
be emphasized at once that the name Lynch, which is among the
hundred commonest surnames in Ireland, is of dual origin. Lynch
is used as the anglicized form of the native Gaelic names O
Loingsigh, and also of the Norman de Lench. the Norman family
of Lynch, though far less numerous than their Gaelic name-sakes,
have been more prominent on account of their predominance in
the affairs of Galway city, where they were the most influential
of the "Tribes". In the hundred and seventy years which elapsed
between 1484, when Dominick Lynch procured the city's charter
from Richard III, and 1654, when Catholics were debarred from
civic offices, no less than eighty-four mayors of Galway were
of the family of Lynch. Dominick's son, Stephen Lynch, was in
turn responsible for obtaining from Pope Innocent VIII the Bull
which established that unique ecclesiastical institution, the
Wardenship of Galway. Many of the Wardens were Lynches. The
Galway family also produced a number of distinguished ecclesiastics,
the most famous of whom were Rev. John Lynch (1599-1673), the
author of Cambrensis Eversus: the centenarian Archbishop of
Tuam, Most Rev. James Lynch, D.D. (1611-1676), the author of
many works in Spanish ; and Rev. Dominic Lynch (d. 1697), the
Dominican philosopher. Of all the Galway Lynches the one most
likely to be remembered by any visitor to that city is James
Lynch, the stern mayor who in 1493 felt it his duty to hang
his own son for an offence for which the penalty was death:
the spot where this event took place, known as the gate of the
Old Jail, with its tragic inscription, is still pointed out
and the story retold. it should be noted, however, that some
modern Galway historians have suggested that this story may
be apocryphal. Nearby is Lynche's Castle which was built in
1320. After the coming of the Normans, the Leyns (Lynch) family
was first settled in Meath, where Lynch's knock, the site of
a battle in 1647, perpetuates their occupation. It was a branch
of this family that migrated to Galway in the early fifteenth
century. The arms illustrated on Plate XIX are those of the
Lynches of Galway. Branches of this family have been prominent
among the modern landowners in Co. Galway under the hyphenated
names Lynch-Blosse and Blosse-Lynch. the Gaelic Lynches, formerly
often called O'Lynch, comprise a number of quite distinct and
independent septs, most of which were submerged as such after
the Anglo-Norman invasion but whose descendants are still to
be found in their several places of origin. The Thomond sept
produced Clare-born Patrick Lynch (1757-1818), linguist and
Gaelic scholar. The Sligo sept has Alan O'Lynch, noted Dominican
Prior of Kildare (1411), to its credit. From that of Breffny
came Dr. John Joseph Lynch (1816-1888), Bishop of Toronto, the
first Catholic ecclesiastical dignitary to attend a British
royal levee since the time of James II. Col. Charles Lynch (1736-1796),
from whose name the American word to lynch, or "lynch law",
was coined, was son of another Charles Lynch, scion of the northern
sept whose head in early mediaeval times was chief of Dalriada.
The Lynches of Co. Donegal are properly Mac Loingseachain *Lynchehaun);
those, O Loingsigh (of Lynch), now numerous in Cork, Kerry and
Limerick, probably stem from the septs of the name located in
Corca; Laoidhe and in Owney. Thomas Lynch (1749-1779), the youngest
of the signatories of the American Declaration of Independence,
was of an Irish family which had then been three generations
in America. Count John Baptist Lunch, a peer of France, was
grandson of an officer who went to that country with James II:
he lost all in the French revolution but later recovered some
of his property. General Isodore Lynch, who joined the revolutionary
army, had a distinguished military career in the French service.
Patrick (Patricio) Lynch (1824-1886) "son of a wealthy Irish
merchant" who first saw service in the British navy, has been
described as "the foremost Chilean naval hero". Finally we may
mention Hannah Lynch (1862-1904), a leading figure in the Ladies'
Land League.
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