Patrick Gregory Lynch (10 February 1866 – 9 December 1947) was an Irish

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

who served as

Attorney General of Ireland The attorney general of Ireland () is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does participate in cabine ...

from 1936 to 1941. He was also a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the

Labour Panel The Labour Panel is one of five vocational panels which together elect 43 of the 60 members of Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland). The Labour Panel elects eleven senators. Election Article 18 of the Const ...

from 1934 to 1936. He was born on 10 February 1866 in Latoon House,

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

to John Lynch, a farmer, and Elizabeth Lynch (née Kelly). He graduated from the

Royal University of Ireland The Royal University of Ireland was a university in Ireland that existed from 1879 to 1909. It was founded in accordance with the University Education (Ireland) Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the ...

. A member of the

Irish Parliamentary Party The Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP; commonly called the Irish Party or the Home Rule Party) was formed in 1874 by Isaac Butt, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nati ...

, he took the Parnellite side when that party split. He was an unsuccessful

candidate in the

1917 East Clare by-election The 1917 East Clare (UK Parliament constituency), East Clare by-election was held on 10 July 1917. It followed the death of the incumbent MP, Willie Redmond of the Irish Parliamentary Party, who was killed in action during the First World War. Th ...

, losing to

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

. He joined

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

within a year. He opposed the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

in 1922. He became a

King's Inns The Honorable Society of King's Inns () is the "Inn of Court" for the Bar of Ireland. Established in 1541, King's Inns is Ireland's oldest school of law and one of Ireland's significant historical environments. The Benchers of King's Inns aw ...

bencher in 1925. In a

Seanad Éireann Seanad Éireann ( ; ; "Senate of Ireland") is the senate of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (defined as the house of representatives). It is commonly called the Seanad or ...

by-election held on 28 September 1934, he was elected as a

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

Senator, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Arthur Vincent, serving until the body's abolition in 1936. He was

from 1936 to 1937 and reappointed under the new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, serving from 1937 to 1940. Maurice Healy in his memoir "The Old Munster Circuit" praised Lynch's outstanding integrity and strength of character, and while he was not normally an admirer of

, praised him for an inspired choice of Lynch as Attorney General. His youngest brother James, was state solicitor for Clare under the

Cumann na nGaedheal Cumann na nGaedheal (; ) was a political party in the Irish Free State, which formed the government from 1923 to 1932. It was named after the original Cumann na nGaedheal organisation which merged with the Dungannon Clubs and the National Co ...

government.

References

External links

* Brendan Ó Cathaoir
"An Irishman's Diary"
Irish Times, 9 July 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Patrick 1866 births 1947 deaths Attorneys general of Ireland Fianna Fáil senators Members of the 1931 Seanad Members of the 1934 Seanad Alumni of King's Inns Lawyers from County Clare 20th-century Irish lawyers Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland