Tributes flood in as wife of Jack Lynch dies

Mairin Lynch, the wife of late Taoiseach Jack Lynch, died after a short illness, it was announced today.

The 87-year-old was a strong influence on her husband’s career and was fiercely protective of him until his death in 1999.

Mrs Lynch died in a private hospital last night after suffering a stroke in recent weeks.

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern described her as a stalwart during decades of political change.

“It is only a few short years since she said goodbye to Jack and I recall the dedicated and loving way she cared for him during his illness,” he said

Speaking from the G8 summit in Georgia, USA, Mr Ahern said her loss would be especially felt in Cork city where the Lynch family was deeply respected.

The Tánaiste Mary Harney said Mrs Lynch, the daughter of a Dublin judge, always demonstrated great political instinct and was never afraid to speak out.

“She had a very alert mind. She was an only child and Jack was her whole life. I doubt if he ever did anything without consulting her,” she said.

At the height of the violence in the North in 1969, Jack Lynch phoned his wife minutes before he went on RTÉ television to warn that the Government could no longer stand by.

Mrs Lynch herself criticised the tarring and feathering of young girls in Derry in 1971.

Ms Harney said she was grateful to the Lynches for assisting her political career – Jack Lynch nominated her to the Seanad in 1977.

Mrs Lynch met her future husband in 1943 while she was staying with friends in a hotel in Glengarriff, West Cork.

Jack Lynch had just helped the Cork hurling team beat Waterford in the Munster final by five points. The couple married in 1946.

“She would have been the one person Jack Lynch confided in,” said historian and Lynch biographer Ryle Dwyer.

“She didn’t want him to go into politics but from the outset, she was prepared to do anything she would have to do to support him.”

When Jack Lynch retired as Taoiseach in 1979 and from the Dáil in 1981, he and his wife retired to their home in Rathgar, Dublin. They had no children.

The couple frequently visited west Cork, where Ms Lynch was made the patron of the Skibbereen Golf Club. After her husband’s death, she often attended the club’s Jack Lynch Memorial Classic tournament.

“She was always a very good supporter. We’ll all miss her a lot,” said the club’s ladies captain, Ann De Montfort.

When later asked about her husband’s decision to enter politics, Mrs Lynch said: “I would have had more of him to myself, I suppose, but if he had not entered politics, he would not have been happy and my happiness depends on his. If he was miserable outside politics, I would be too.”