Jack Lynch

Jack Lynch
Lynch in 1979
5th Taoiseach
In office
5 July 1977 – 11 December 1979
PresidentPatrick Hillery
TánaisteGeorge Colley
Preceded byLiam Cosgrave
Succeeded byCharles Haughey
In office
10 November 1966 – 14 March 1973
PresidentÉamon de Valera
Tánaiste
Preceded bySeán Lemass
Succeeded byLiam Cosgrave
Leader of the Opposition
In office
14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
President
TaoiseachLiam Cosgrave
Preceded byLiam Cosgrave
Succeeded byGarret FitzGerald
Leader of Fianna Fáil
In office
10 November 1966 – 7 December 1979
Deputy
Preceded bySeán Lemass
Succeeded byCharles Haughey
Minister for Finance
In office
21 April 1965 – 10 November 1966
TaoiseachSeán Lemass
Preceded byJames Ryan
Succeeded byCharles Haughey
Minister for Industry and Commerce
In office
23 June 1959 – 21 April 1965
TaoiseachSeán Lemass
Preceded byPatrick Hillery
Succeeded byCharles Haughey
Minister for Education
In office
20 March 1957 – 23 June 1959
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byRichard Mulcahy
Succeeded byPatrick Hillery
Minister for the Gaeltacht
In office
20 March 1957 – 26 June 1957
TaoiseachÉamon de Valera
Preceded byPatrick Lindsay
Succeeded byMícheál Ó Móráin
Parliamentary Secretary
1951–1954Government
1951–1954Lands
Teachta Dála
In office
June 1977 – June 1981
ConstituencyCork City
In office
June 1969 – June 1977
ConstituencyCork City North-West
In office
February 1948 – June 1969
ConstituencyCork Borough
Personal details
Born
John Mary Lynch

(1917-08-15)15 August 1917
Cork, Ireland
Died20 October 1999(1999-10-20) (aged 82)
Donnybrook, Dublin, Ireland
Resting placeSt. Finbarr's Cemetery, Cork, Ireland
Political partyFianna Fáil
Spouse
(m. 1946)
Education
Alma mater

John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Minister for Finance from 1965 to 1966, Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1959 to 1965, Minister for Education 1957 to 1959, Minister for the Gaeltacht from March 1957 to June 1957, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Lands and Parliamentary Secretary to the Government from 1951 to 1954. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1948 to 1981.[1]

He was the third leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 until 1979, succeeding the hugely influential Seán Lemass. Lynch was the last party leader to secure (in 1977) an overall majority in the Dáil for his party. Historian and journalist T. Ryle Dwyer has called him "the most popular Irish politician since Daniel O'Connell."[2]

Before his political career Lynch had a successful sporting career as a dual player of Gaelic games. He played hurling with his local club Glen Rovers and with the Cork senior inter-county team from 1936 until 1950. Lynch also played Gaelic football with his local club St Nicholas' and with the Cork senior inter-county team from 1936 until 1946.

In a senior inter-county hurling career that lasted for fourteen years, he won five All-Ireland titles, seven Munster titles, three National Hurling League titles and seven Railway Cup titles. In a senior inter-county football career that lasted for ten years, Lynch won one All-Ireland title, two Munster titles and one Railway Cup title. Lynch was later named at midfield on the Hurling Team of the Century and the Hurling Team of the Millennium.

  1. ^ "John Lynch". Oireachtas Members Database. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  2. ^ Dwyer, T. Ryle (2005). Haughey's Forty Years of Controversy. Cork: Mercier. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-85635-426-4.