Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...
er who plays for the Lámh Dhearg club and at senior level for the Antrim county team.
He spent two years as Antrim county football
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
under the management of
Lenny Harbinson
Lenny Harbinson is a Gaelic football manager and former player. He managed his native Antrim between 2017 and 2020.
He played for St Gall's and Antrim and leads a sales team.
Appointed Antrim senior manager in late 2017, he was unable to gain ...
, before Peter Healy succeeded him in 2021 under Harbinson's successor
Enda McGinley
Enda McGinley (born 1981) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player for the Errigal Ciarán club and the Tyrone county team. He managed the Antrim county team between 2020 and 2022.
McGinley was part of Tyrone's All-Ireland-winnin ...
.
Lynch was educated at Bunscoil Phobal Féirste and Scoil Mhuire. He attended the
University of Ulster
sco, Ulstèr Universitie
, image = Ulster University coat of arms.png
, caption =
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng =
, latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae
, established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...
, where he studied politics and
criminology
Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...
, and later completed a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
. After working for the
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Iris ...
, he became a
political adviser
Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...
.
Lynch has had surgery five times on his hips (twice on the right and three times on the left) over a period of seven years, after first injuring himself while playing for Antrim when he was 16. The first operation was done in 2012, also the year he made his Antrim senior debut. Lynch had mild symptoms of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
from which he recovered in mid-2020. His father Martin managed Lámh Dhearg to an
Antrim Senior Football Championship
The Antrim Senior Football Championship is an annual Gaelic Athletic Association competition between the top Gaelic football clubs in Antrim GAA. The winners of the championship represent Antrim in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship ...
in 2017.
He also plays
hurling
Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...
for the Lámh Dhearg club, winning the 2016 Antrim and Ulster Junior Hurling Championship, but he has since dedicated himself to football.