Thomas Kerr Lynch (1818–1891) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

. A younger brother of

Henry Blosse Lynch Henry Blosse Lynch (18071873) was an Anglo-Irish explorer. Life Henry Blosse Lynch was third of the eleven sons of Major Henry Blosse Lynch (1778-1823) of Partry House, Ballinrobe, County Mayo, His mother was Elizabeth Finnis (from Hythe, Kent ...

(born 1807), Thomas was born at Partry House,

Ballinrobe Ballinrobe () is a town in County Mayo in Ireland. It is located on the River Robe, which empties into Lough Mask two kilometres to the west. As of the 2016 census, the population was 2,786. History Foundation and development Ballinrobe is con ...

(then in

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

but now in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

) to Major Henry Blosse Lynch (1778–1823). The major had served in the 73rd Regiment and had an estate of fifteen hundred acres north of Ballinrobe. The Lynch family were one 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 ...

, been descended from

Sir Henry Lynch, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Lynch, 1st Baronet (died 1635) was an Irish baronet, knight, lawyer, and land agent (i.e. estate manager). Lynch was among the first of his family to become a lawyer, and several of his younger sons followed him into this profession, ...

who died in 1635. In 1837 he joined his brother Henry, who commanded an expedition up the river

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

, a previously unaccomplished voyage. Thomas went on to establish a steamer service on the Tigris linking Baghdad with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In the 1850s, Thomas, who had by then travelled extensively throughout

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, was appointed

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

for

in London. He was made a

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

of the

Order of the Lion and the Sun The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun (Persian language, Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extend ...

. Thomas Kerr Lynch died in London in 1891.

References

* ''The Tribes of Galway:1124–1642'', Adrian Martyn, Galway, 2016.

External links

* http://towns.mayo-ireland.ie/WebX?14@50.A2GDbsAaBwp.0@.ee7a995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Thomas Kerr 19th-century Irish explorers People from Ballinrobe People from County Galway 1818 births 1891 deaths Iranian diplomats