Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720 - 1940

County surveyor for Cos. Mayo and Louth. Patrick John Lynam, a son of JAMES LYNAM JAMES LYNAM , was born in 1852 and educated at Queen's College, Galway, from which he graduated with a BE degree in 1872.  He then joined the Indian Civil Service and spent some years in Ceylon. In 1880 he applied unsuccessfully for the post of Cork city engineer, but in July 1883, following the death of HENRY BREWSTER HENRY BREWSTER , he was appointed county surveyor for the northern division of Co. Mayo, based in Ballina. In 1886 he was transferred to Co. Louth, following the resignation of JOHN NEVILLE. JOHN NEVILLE. (1) At the beginning of his time in Co. Louth he was also surveyor for the the county of the town of Drogheda, a post which was abolished in 1899. He held the position of county surveyor for Co. Louth until his death, which took place after several months of illness, on 7 August 1912, when he was fifty-nine.(2) He was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery with his wife, Margaret Mary (née Barry), who had died at the age of twenty-six on 20 April 1889, shortly after their marriage.(3) An elder brother William Lynam, a civil engineer who died in Earl's Court, London, in 1913, was also buried in the same plot.(4) After his wife's death Lynam lived with one of his four unmarried sisters, Anna Lynam, for the rest of his life.

Lynam's work 'was marked by solidity, forethought and sound judgment', according to the obituary in the Irish Builder, while the Building News noted that he was a keen advocate of the steam rolling of roads. He was succeeded in the county surveyorship by THOMAS WALSH. THOMAS WALSH.

Institute of County & Municipal Engineers: elected member, 1 August 1891.(5)

Address: Home: Woodlawn, 1 Stapleton Place, Dundalk, 1889;  15 Stapleton Place, <=1899 until death.

See WORKS.



References

All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from Brendan O'Donoghue, from Peter Geraghty, 'P.J. Lynam, the last County Surveyor for Louth Grand Jury (1886-1912)', County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal 27, No. 2 (2010), 284-302, which includes a portrait photograph of Lynam (p.289) and from the obituaries of Lynam in IB 54, 31 Aug 1912, 516, and Building News 103, 30 Aug 1912, 287. The latter forms the basis of the obituary in Proc. Inst. Municipal & County Engineers 38 (1911-12), 507.

(1) Connaught Telegraph, 17 Jul 1886 (B.O'D.). Two of Lynam's reports to the Co. Louth Grand Jury and County Council are noted in IB 32, 15 Jun 1890, 175 and IB 41, 15 Aug 1899, 99.
(2) Glasnevin cemetery records.
(3) See note 2, above.
(4) See note 2, above.
(5) Proc. Inst. Municipal & County Engineers 31(1907-1908), list of members.


5 work entries listed in chronological order for LYNAM, PATRICK JOHN


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Building: CO. LOUTH, DROGHEDA, FAIR STREET, COURT HOUSE
Date: 1887-1890
Nature: Design for new court house behind existing front. Contractor: Meldon (£3,000). Clerk of Works: Sylvester Roche, Drogheda.
Refs: Drawings, dated 1887, in NA, OPW drawings collection; IB 29, 15 Jul 1887, 210; Proc. Inst. Municipal & County Engineers 38 (1911-12), 507; P.J. Geraghty, 'Urban improvement and the erection of municipal buildings in County Louth during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries', County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal 25, no. 3, 306;  Peter Geraghty, 'P.J. Lynam, the last County Surveryor for Louth Grand Jury (1886-1912)', County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal 27, No. 2 (2010), 293.

Building: CO. LOUTH, DROGHEDA, ST DOMINICK'S BRIDGE (1889)
Date: 1889-1890;1891-93
Nature: New screw-pile iron bridge on site of wooden one. Tenders of Thomas Gibson, Westminster (£1485) accepted Jun 1889. Girders and plates ready. Jul 1890. Cost of bridge, £1,000. Proposed addition of footpaths, 1891, to cost another £1000. Tenders sought, Jun 1892. Contr: Brettell. (£1000)
Refs: Drogheda Argus, 2 Mar,15 Jun 1889, 1 Mar,5 Jul 1890, 27 Feb,30 Apr 1892, 4 Mar,8 Jul 1893 (B.O'D.); Architect 62, 19 Jul 1889, 3; IB 31, 1 Aug 1889, 203;  Peter Geraghty, 'P.J. Lynam, the last County Surveyor for Louth Grand Jury (1886-1912)', County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal 27, No. 2 (2010), 293-295. 

Building: CO. GALWAY, BALLINASLOE, DERRYMULLEN, WATER SUPPLY
Date: 1895
Nature: Construction of filter beds, water tanks, &c. in townland of Derrymullen for Ballinasloe Town Commissioners, by 'T.F. Lynam, CE, Dundalk'.
Refs: IB 37, 1 Aug 1895, 188

Building: CO. LOUTH, DROGHEDA, FAIR STREET, COURT HOUSE
Date: 1901
Nature: Repairs.
Refs: IB 43, 29 Aug 1901, 845

Building: CO. TYRONE, OMAGH, GEORGE'S STREET, COUNTY COURT HOUSE
Date: 1906
Nature: Repairs and alts, including new domes to replace existing wood and glass ones. Patent glazing by Helliwell & Co. of Brighouse, Yorkshire, and 17 Nassau St, Dublin.
Refs: IB 48, 25 Aug 1906, 690.

Author Title Date Details
Geraghty, Peter 'P.J. Lynam, the last County Surveyor for Louth Grand Jury (1886-1912)',
County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal 27, No. 2 (2010), 284-302.