Diarmuid Lynch
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Diarmuid Lynch | |
---|---|
December 1918 – July 1920 | |
Constituency | Cork South East |
Personal details | |
Born | Jeremiah Christopher Lynch 10 January 1878 Tracton, County Cork, Ireland |
Died | 9 October 1950 Minane Bridge, County Cork | (aged 72)
Spouse |
Kathleen Mary Quinn (m. 1918) |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Irish Republic |
Branch/service | Irish Republican Brotherhood |
Battles/wars | Easter Rising |
Jeremiah Christopher Lynch (10 January 1878 – 9 November 1950) was an Irish revolutionary from County Cork who was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and became a Sinn Féin TD in the First Dáil.[1] A skilled organiser, he was prominent in Irish American organisations in the United States, where he spent many years.
Early life
Lynch was born in Granig, Tracton, County Cork, to Timothy Lynch, a farmer, and Hannah Dunlea.[2] His mother died from pneumonia in July 1878 when Lynch was an infant; his father, who had remarried, died when Diarmuid was thirteen years of age.
In his autobiography, Lynch recalls being taken to a political meeting in
Career
Like other rural Irishmen of his generation, such as
Migration to USA
Lynch accepted an offer of employment from his uncle Cornelius Dunlea in New York and his skill as an organiser was soon recognised having joined the New York Philo-Celtic Society, established for the preservation of the
As Lynch's reputation grew so did his sphere of influence. Before he returned to Ireland in 1907, he could boast a circle of friends that included Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa, Dr Thomas Addis Emmet, Ricard O'Sullivan Burke, John J. Breslin and Tom Clarke.
Having spent almost eleven years in America, Lynch decided to return to Ireland. He had been back in 1902 for a short period, when, with the aid of Liam de Róiste, he had organised an Irish cultural feis at Minane Bridge.
Return to Ireland
On his return to Ireland, he was employed by Thomas McKenzie & Sons, Dublin, an agricultural supplies wholesaler. He later joined the IRB at the invitation of Seán T. O'Kelly. By 1911 he had been appointed to the IRB Supreme Council as the divisional representative for Munster.
Lynch played a role in the planning of the 1916 Easter Rising. He was chosen by Patrick Pearse to go to Tralee and identify the best area to land German arms. Lynch reported directly to Pearse that Fenit would be the most secure location for the proposed landing. At this time, he was the only member of the IRB Supreme Council to attend meetings of the even more secret IRB Military Council.
After
Easter Rising
Lynch was
Sinn Féin reorganisation
Lynch became active again and, along with Collins and Thomas Ashe, participated in the reorganisation of the IRB. After the 1917 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Lynch held three senior posts in the IRB, Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteers.
His position as Sinn Féin food controller resulted in his deportation to England in 1918.[4] During this period much of the Irish agricultural produce was being sent to Britain to support the war effort. Lynch ordered that a specific shipment of pigs at the North wall ready for shipment to England be slaughtered for the Irish market and the money given to owners of the stock.[5] He was arrested and sentenced to deportation. Before this was enforced he was secretly married on 24 April 1918. His fiancée, Kathleen Mary Quinn from Celbridge, and a priest were smuggled into Dundalk Jail for the ceremony. This event was a propaganda coup as the British authorities had originally refused permission for the marriage.
Return to the USA
When Lynch was deported to America he thought: "It certainly greatly enhanced the prestige of Sinn Fein...the party of action and not of talk".[citation needed] That party dedicated a new ballad "The Pig Push" to Lynch:
"We'll have pig's cheeks and pork chops enough for you and me,
there'll be rashers for our breakfast and some sausages for tea."[6]
Lynch threateningly said "there'll hear G Division squeal as far off as Berlin".[7]
Shortly afterwards he was appointed Secretary of the
In the
Tension with de Valera
The arrival of Éamon de Valera to America in 1919 was followed by the establishment of a rival organisation to the Friends of Irish Freedom. In 1920, Lynch resigned his Dáil seat in sympathy with Devoy and Colohan.[10] He wrote a letter of resignation in July 1920, which was read out to the Dáil the following month.[11] In it he said: "Differences have arisen since July 1919, between de Valera and the recognised leaders of the movement here as to the proper conduct of the campaign in America for the recognition of the Irish Republic and these circumstances have governed my actions in resigning."[12]
de Valera and Lynch would again become embroiled in a bitter battle in 1929, when associates of the former tried unsuccessfully to claim the unused funds raised by the
Civil War and later life
Lynch played no part in the Irish Civil War, but along with his IRB comrade Seán O'Hegarty made several unsuccessful attempts to stop it. In an impassioned letter, written in 1922 to the members of Friends of Irish Freedom, he wrote: "Our influence may be exercised towards securing for Ireland the greatest need of the moment – Peace." [citation needed]
In 1933 he returned to Ireland, living initially in Mallow but settling in Tracton, County Cork. He contributed to the work of the Bureau of Military History in collecting witness statements from those who had taken part in the War of Independence and in reviewing historical publications. He attempted to run for the Senate in 1944 but was not successful.
His marriage produced no children.[2] Lynch died in 1950 and his funeral took place at Minane Bridge in County Cork.[13]
Lynch's papers are held by the National Library of Ireland.
References
- ^ "Diarmuid Lynch". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ a b c Coleman, Marie. "Lynch, Diarmuid". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
- ^ National Council, 18 June 1920, NY, Irish American Historical Society, FOIF papers
- ^ "Papers concerning the imprisonment and deportation of Diarmuid Lynch, 1918". Sources – The National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
- ^ Albert E. Coyle, ed. (1921). Evidence on conditions in Ireland. Washington, USA: American Commission on Conditions in Ireland. pp. 239–240. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
- ^ "The Big Push" dedicated to Diarmuid Lynch the IRA's Food Controller.
- ^ 'The Big Push', National Library of Ireland MS 5657., cited by Townshend, p.25.
- ^ Townshend, Charles, "The Republic: The Fight For Irish Independence", (Penguin 2014), p.70.
- ^ "Diarmuid Lynch". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-312-29511-0.
- ISBN 0717120155. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ "Dáil Debates, 6 August 1920". Houses of the Oireachteas. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ "Diarmuid Lynch". Fenian Graves. 17 October 2021.
Sources
- De Blacam, Aodh, What Sinn Fein stands for: The Irish Republican Movement, its History, Arms and Ideals (Dublin 1921)
- Lynch, Diarmuid & Florence O'Donoghue : The IRB and the 1916 insurrection, Cork: Mercier Press, 1957.
- Group photograph with Harry Boland, de Valera, John Devoy, Liam Mellows and Pat McCartan. New York circ. 1919/'20. From Harry Boland's Irish Revolution ISBN 978-1-85918-386-1
- McCurtan, Patrick, With de Valera in America (New York 1932)
- Novick, Ben, Concerning Revolution: Irish Nationalist Propaganda during the First world War (Dublin 2001)
- O'Broin, Leon, Revolutionary Underground: The Story of the Irish Republican Brotherhood 1858–1924 (Dublin 1976)