Maire Lynch

Who is Maire Lynch?

Maire Lynch, Countess of Clanricarde, fl. 1547.

Lynch was a member of the Tribes of Galway who married, prior to his death in 1544, Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde. The reason for the marriage was to aid Burke's assimilation into Old English society and learn English.

However, Lynch was only one of three wives that Burke was simultaneously married to. 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, 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 state that John Burke was besieged at his castle of Binmore 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 were killed during an invasion of Galway by Hugh Roe Ó Donnell.

By 1547, Maire Lynch had remarried to Piers Martin of Galway. Adrian Martyn believed the couple to be grandparents of Walter Martyn, Mayor of Galway for the term 1613-14. He accounts among her descendants Patrick Martyn fitz Walter, George Martyn fitz Walter, 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 in the south.