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Was Andrew Lynch (1200 AD) a Norman or Gaelic Irish ?

 

There is much debate on where the Lynchs of Galway and indeed of Lynch Castle (Knock, county Meath) come from. One narrative is that they come from the Norman blood of those who travelled with Strongbow to Ireland in 1170.

 

However there are the well documented Lynchs in Ireland before Strongbow's arrival (in the 12th century), from the line of the famous High King of Ireland Labraid Loinseach (circa 300 BC). Labraid was also leader of the Laigin (Celtic warriors from 4th century BC, France) who settled in Leinster (Laigin-ster)

 

Andrew Lynch of Lynch's castle,  Knock (now known as Summerhill) county Meath was a Lord or noble in Norman Ireland around 1200AD. That is mentioned in records of that time, he was variously referred to as De Lince, Linch etc.. in the French and Latin texts. But what is not proven was whether he really was of Norman descent. I put it to you that he was not and offer the following three points to consider:

 

1. Normans in Ireland became known as being more Irish than the Irish themselves. They spoke Irish and French, intermarried with the Irish, and in areas such as Knock, Meath (the border lands of Norman Ireland at that time) ruled mostly by Behon (Gaelic) Law, not the laws of King Henry II of England. In the Annals of the Four Masters, there are many references to the complex reality of that time - Irish allying with Normans against other Irish or indeed Normans with Irish against other Normans. For example  in  1195, (M1195.8)  - 'Cathal Crovderg O'Conor and Mac Costelloe, with some of the English (Normans) and Irish of Meath, marched into Munster, and arrived at Emly and Cashel. They burned four large castles and some small ones'.

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2. Descendents of Labraid would have been existing Lords in this area. The site of Tara, seat of the High Kings of Ireland is less than 40 miles from Knock/Summerhill. It is not outragiously unlikely that new Norman lords in Ireland may have married their daughters to Irish lords to increase their power base and amount of land under their influence. (Strongbow married the daughter of the High King of Ireland at this time.) Note also that the border of Norman Ireland (or the Pale) in this part of Ireland was referenced at times as the western boundary of the lands of Lynch's castle in Knock, Meath.

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3. The Tourist information board in current day Summerhill (formerly called Knock) gives a lot of detail on Lynch's castle, their dispossession by Cromwell etc. It also refers as follows to the pre-history of Lynchs Castle (Cnoc Na Loinsigh):

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"Cnoc Na Loinsigh was an important outpost when the High Kings presided at Tara and when fire signalling was the only method used for long distance communication. One of the four roads from Tara passed over the Knock and south on to the hill of Allen ... (other detail on old roads) .. Lynch's castle was therefore placed on a strategic crossroads and controlling point. When O Neill's controlled the High Kingship of Ireland, the Knock was its southern outpost.

..The Lynchs were part of the Ulster O'Neill dynasty.  (I discuss this further in the linked page on Lynch's Castle)

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Therefore Andrew Lynch of Cnoc na Loingsigh, circa 1200, may well have been of Gaelic descent, operating in the new Norman Ireland as a Norman lord. In this scenario it is also likely that over the following 400+ years (up to Cromwells time) that this Gaelic link had been effectively airbrushed out of family history and thus arose the narrative of a De Lynch from Norman lands who travelled with Strongbow or King Henry II to Ireland in 1170. Think about it - 2 sets of families in Meath, in the area of what becase the border of the pale, the edges of Norman influence in this area. They were both called Lynch, (Gaelic form O'Loinsigh, pronounced O'Lynchy .. sounding very like de Lince), but they are completely unrelated? The ones who lived in the castle in Knock are actually from some Norman who happened to have a remarkably similar surname to the ones that are descendents of a supposedly, completely separate, Gaelic Lynch clan? One must admit, it is debateable..