Germyn Lynch ( fl. 1441 –

1483 Year 1483 ( MCDLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * January 1 – The Jews are expelled from Andalusia. * February 11 – Th ...

) was a merchant and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

from

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

, Ireland. His life is notable in that few other commoners in late medieval Ireland are so well-documented. Lynch was a member of one of

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 ...

. He was at various times a goldsmith,

freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

and

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, and Master of the Irish mints, a post from which he was dismissed five times, for making lightweight coins. As shipmaster he carried pilgrims to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

, sailed to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

for goods, as well as merchandise to and from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Timothy O'Neill, in a biography of Lynch, commented that if "such variety can be glimpsed from the scattering of references ... the full life history of Germyn Lynch ... would surely equal the most exciting imaginings of any writer of historical novels."

References

* ''A Fifteenth Century Entrepreneur Germyn Lynch fl. 1441–1483'', Timothy O'Neill, in ''Settlement and Society in Medieval Ireland'', pp. 421–428, 1988. * ''The Tribes of Galway:1124-1642'', Adrian Martyn, Galway, 2016.. People from County Galway 15th-century Irish businesspeople Irish sailors Irish expatriates in England {{Ireland-business-bio-stub