Patrick Lynch

Who is Patrick Lynch?

Patrick Lynch was an Irish emigrant who became a significant landowner in Rio de la Plata, which is now part of Argentina. He was born in Galway and was the second son of Captain Patrick Lynch of Lydycan Lydican Castle and Agnes Blake. The Lynches and the Blakes were two of the fourteen tribes of Galway, who dominated the political, commercial, and social life of the city of Galway in western Ireland between the mid-13th and late-19th centuries. The Lynches had been leaving Ireland since their defeat at the hands of Cromwell's forces and later those of William of Orange,when members of the family were expelled from Ireland. Patrick left in the 1740s for Bilbao, Spain, and travelled from there to Rio de la Plata, where he settled and was a "Regidor" and Captain in the "Milicias". In 1749, in Buenos Aires, he married Rosa de Galayn y de la Camara, a wealthy heiress. He was successful enough to pass on substantial lands to his eldest surviving son, Justo Pastor Lynch who was a customs official under Viceroy Cisneros, also a Captain and Regidor. He was confirmed in his post by the revolutionary government on account of his well known probity.