Sean Lynch
Home address given as 6 Spellacy Square, Wolfe Tone Street, Limerick. Lynch died on 14 September 1925. Lynch was a Captain of A Company, 31 Battalion, National Army.
Family Circumstances
Although not a direct casualty of the conflict Lynch’s death from TB was deemed in part attributable to service in the National Army during the Civil War. The interest in Lynch’s file stems from the infighting that occurred in the immediate family following Sean’s death.
“I am grateful for your expression of sympathy re my poor brother Sean but strongly object to his wife receiving one penny. The hardened wretch deserted him…”
So writes Sean’s brother Patrick to General Gearoid O’Sullivan on 21 September 1925 when seeking the balance of his brother’s military service pension. A similar application was also submitted by Sean’s widow Nora. The circumstances/events around the death of Sean Lynch had evidently created a great deal of tension within the family. The dual claims for the balance of the military service pension required the Army Finance Office to seek letters of administration to identify the legal representative. Said letters of administration were granted to Nora Lynch thus entitling her to £111.11.8 (£86.1.8 military service pension and £25.10.0 back pay). Payable orders were issued to Mrs Lynch in January 1926.
Sean Lynch had been awarded a military service pension in respect of his service with the Irish Volunteers, the IRA and the National Forces between 1 April 1917 and 30 September 1923. Lynch enlisted in the National Forces in April 1922 and resigned/demobilised on 26 October 1923. He was awarded 9 years’ service for pension purposes at grade B (Captain) which would have equated to £90.00 per annum.
However, the settling of Sean’s account did not conclude the bitterness between Patrick Lynch and his sister-in-law. In January 1928 Nora Lynch made an application for an allowance or gratuity in respect of Sean’s death. This caused Patrick to write “I strongly protest to the granting of same…she refused point blank to live with her invalid husband”. “She is the daughter of a big farmer and was to get a fortune of close to £1,000 but it was withheld when she married a Free State soldier”. Sean Lynch and Nora Blackburn had married on 11 July 1923 in County Limerick. It is notable in the extract from the Irish Independent of 17 September 1925 that Nora Lynch was not included among the chief mourners.
The Army Pensions Board confirmed that death was attributable to service in the Irish Volunteers/IRA and the National army (11 February 1929) thus entitling Nora Lynch to the usual entitlements for a widow under the act (allowance of £90 per annum and gratuity of £120 on first remarriage). However, when the information received from Patrick Lynch was investigated it was discovered that Nora Lynch had married against her parents’ wishes. Having returned home she received £400, on condition that she did not return to her husband. As a result of this discovery Nora Lynch was deemed not to be dependent on deceased and she was so informed on 28 October 1929. The investigations also revealed that Nora Lynch had remarried in August 1928 and became known as Nora Hyland.
