Maire Lynch,

Countess Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

Clanricarde Clanricarde (; ), also known as Mac William Uachtar (Upper Mac William) or the Galway Burkes, were a fully Gaelicised branch of the Hiberno-Norman House of Burgh who were important landowners in Ireland from the 13th to the 20th centuries. Ter ...

, fl.

1547 Year 1547 ( MDXLVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–June * January 8 – The first Lithuanian-language book, a ''Catechism'' (, Simple Words of ...

. Lynch was a member of the

Tribes of Galway The Tribes of Galway ( ga, Treibheanna na Gaillimhe) were 14 merchant families who dominated the political, commercial and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late 19th centuries. They were the families ...

who married, prior to his death in 1544,

Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde Ulick na gCeann Burke, 12th Clanricarde or Mac William Uachtar, 1st Earl of Clanricarde (; ; ; ; died 1544; styled MacWilliam, and na-gCeann, meaning "of the Heads", "having made a mount of the heads of men slain in battle which he covered up w ...

. The reason for the marriage was to aid Burke's assimilation into

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

society and learn English. However, Lynch was only one of three wives that Burke was simultaneously married to (see

Early Irish Law Early Irish law, historically referred to as (English: Freeman-ism) or (English: Law of Freemen), also called Brehon law, comprised the statutes which governed everyday life in Early Medieval Ireland. They were partially eclipsed by the Norma ...

). Upon his death, she claimed that their son, John Burke, should become 2nd Earl. A commission established that the legitimate heir was

Richard Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde Richard Burke, 2nd Earl of Clanricarde (; ; died 24 July 1582) was an Irish noble who succeeded his father Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde as chief of a Gaelicised Norman family with authority over much of what is now County ...

, son of Burke's first marriage to Grainne Ni Cearbaill of Ely O'Carroll. Lynch was in compensation granted £300.00. Her son, John, would nevertheless challenge his half-brother for the earldom in the 1550s. In 1553, the

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' ( ga, Annála Ríoghachta Éireann) or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' (''Annála na gCeithre Máistrí'') are chronicles of medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Deluge, dated as 2,24 ...

state that John Burke was besieged at his castle of Binmore (''Beann-mor'') by Earl Richard, but the latter had been driven off by Donnell O'Brien. The same annals record, ''sub anno'' 1598, that ''the two sons of William, son of John Burke of Rinn-Mhil'' (near

Oranmore Oranmore ( or ''Úarán Mór'') is a town near the city of Galway in County Galway, Ireland. It is also the name of the civil parish and Roman Catholic parish in which the town lies. It is east of Galway city on the edge of Oranmore Bay, an ...

) were killed during an invasion of Galway by

Hugh Roe Ó Donnell Hugh Roe O'Donnell (Irish: ''Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill''), also known as Red Hugh O'Donnell (30 October 1572 – 10 September 1602), was a sixteenth-century leader of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland. He became Chief of the Name of Clan O'Donnel ...

. By 1547, Maire Lynch had remarried to Piers Martin of Galway ( fl. 1547–60). Adrian Martyn (2005) believed the couple to be grandparents of Walter Martyn,

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. The ...

for the term 1613-14. He accounts among her descendants Patrick Martyn fitz Walter (Mayor 1622-23), George Martyn fitz Walter (Mayor 1631-32), as well as other sheriffs and merchants of the town. He further states that his research indicates that Maire and Piers are ancestors to a large section of the Martyn family of Galway, whom he terms the Clan Walter. He places the clan in south-west Galway, in an area from Loughrea to Kilcolgan and bounded by

Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, wh ...

in the south. The year of Lynch's death is unknown. She would have been buried in the town of Galway.

References

* ''

History of Galway Galway, one of the largest cities in Ireland, situated on the west coast of Ireland, has a complex history going back around 800 years. The city was the only medieval city in the province of Connacht. (Alternative) derivations of the name The cit ...

'',

James Hardiman James Hardiman (1782–1855), also known as Séamus Ó hArgadáin, was a librarian at Queen's College, Galway. Hardiman is best remembered for his '' History of the Town and County of Galway'' (1820) and '' Irish Minstrelsy'' (1831), one of the f ...

, Galway, 1820. p
85
n.32 * ''Old Galway'',

Maureen Donovan O'Sullivan Mary Josephine Donovan O'Sullivan was Professor of History at Queens College, Galway (now NUI Galway) from 1914 to 1957. Biography One of ten children, four of whom survived infancy, Donovan was born at Fair Hill Road in Galway on 24 November ...

, Oxford, 1942. * ''The wives of Ulick de Burgh, first earl of Clanricard'', Maureen Donovan O'Sullivan, ''Journal of the

Galway Archaeological and Historical Society The Galway Archaeological and Historical Society was founded on 21 March 1900, at the Railway Hotel, Galway. It promotes the study of the archaeology and history of the west of Ireland. Since 1900, the Society has published 70 volumes of the ''J ...

'', 1944, pp. 174–83. * ''The Tribes of Galway'', Adrian Martyn, Galway, 2001. * ''Role of Honour:The Mayors of Galway City 1485-2001'', William Henry, Galway 2001 * ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', p. 380, Cambridge, 2010. * ''The Tribes of Galway:1124-1642'', Adrian Martyn, Galway, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Maire People from County Galway 16th-century Irish people 16th-century Irish women

Year of birth missing Year of death missing

See also

References