John Lynch : Short Biography

John Lynch, born in the late 1700's. 

John Lynch and Catherine Fox were married on Friday 24 November 1809, in the Parish of Old Castle, in County Meath.  Their witnesses were John Ferrall and George Leonard.  At the time, Rev George McDermott was the Parish Priest.  He was Parish Priest, from 10 February 1807, until his death on the 7 January 1832.  

In the Tithe Applotment Books in 1828, John Lynch resides in the townland of Toney Owen, County Westmeath, sharing a holding with with John Gibney, Widow McCormick, Condy Lynch and Owen Gilliam.

In the 1854 Griffiths Valuation John Lynch leased a house and garden, from James McCullagh, at Tonyowen Upper, in the Parish of Foyran, County Westmeath.  The only other property at Tonyowen Upper, in the Griffiths Valuation, was one of 100 acres leased by James McCullagh, from the Duke of Buckingham.  This property consisted of a house, a herd's house and land.  We assume John Lynch, and perhaps other family members, worked on James McCullagh's property.  We know that the two sons of John and Catherine Lynch (nee Fox), who ended up residing in Australia, Thomas (1812-1873) and Owen (1829-1891), worked on, and eventually owned sheep properties on the Monaro, in the state of New South Wales.

John and Catherine (nee Fox) Lynch's children included: 

- Thomas Lynch (1812-1873) baptised 13 December 1812, at St Micheal's Church, Castlepollard, Westmeath, Ireland, died in Australia; 

- Michael Lynch (1815-?) baptised 31 January 1815, at St Michael's, Castlepollard, Ireland, moved to the USA (possibly in the Blackstone/Worcester area of Massachusetts) where others from the Parish of Foyran also settled during the mid 1800's;

- Bridget Lynch (1817-?) baptised 7 June 1817, St Michael's Church, Castlepollard, Westmeath, Ireland; 

- Judith Lynch (1819-?) baptised 22 November 1819, St Michael's Church, Castlepollard, Westmeath, Ireland; 

- John Lynch (1822-?); 

- Margaret Lynch (1825-?) baptised 25 December 1825, St Michael's Church, Castlepollard, Westmeath, Ireland; 

- Owen Sylvester Lynch (1829-1891) born in Ireland, died in Australia; 

- Catherine Lynch (1830-?) baptised 7 February 1830, Castlepollard, Ireland; and 

- Ellen Lynch (?) who possibly stayed in Ireland and cared for her parents (?).

Thomas Lynch arrived, as a convict in Sydney, Australia, on board the "Waterloo" in 1836.  In 1836, at the age of 22 years, he was convicted of, "Demanding a gun, with intent to steal."  Further research leads us to believe he was involved with a whiteboys-like movement.  

Twenty years later, his brother Owen Lynch arrived, as an Assisted Immigrant, in Sydney, Australia. He travelled on board the "Commodore Perry" in 1856.  In Owen's records as an Assisted Immigrant, he lists his parents as John Lynch and Catherine Fox, who in 1856 were still  living in the Parish of Foyran, Westmeath, Ireland.    

In Australia, Owen Lynch married Catherine McMahon, 1840-1908 (whose Irish parents were James and Mary McMahon {nee Dannaher}, and whose maternal grandfather is believed to have been William Dannaher, from the Townland of Sallybank, in the Parish of Kilseily, County Clare).  James and Mary McMahon, Catherine Lynch's parents, were both from County Clare. 

We are uncertain as to where or when John and Catherine (nee Fox) Lynch died.  However, we do know, from the Cancelled Books for Tonyowen Upper, that the house John Lynch was leasing, from James McCullagh, in the Griffiths Valuation, was in 1865 recorded as, "Ho {house} down".  This would suggest that nobody took over the Lynch holding after John Lynch's death and that John Lynch died between 1859 and 1865.

Unfortunately, none of Thomas Lynch's children had children of their own, so there are no descendants of this branch of the family.  However, today many hundreds of descendants of Owen and Catherine Lynch (McMahon) live in Australia and New Zealand.