Patrick Joseph Lynch [also known as P. J. Lynch] was born Dublin, Ireland on 16 November 1849. After studying at the Dublin School of Art, he worked in the office of office of James Ryan & Sons, a firm of builders in Waterford and Limerick, before taking his exam for the position of assistant surveyor in the Office of Public Works, which he passed. He was subsequently appointed district clerk of works for the Limerick area and and by 1907 was assistant principal surveyor in charge of the south of Ireland.
For much of his career Lynch worked as a surveyor in Limerick. He designed some buildings but nothing that is considered of significance. His importance lay more in his promotion of architectural education in Ireland. He was a keen supporter of the School of Architecture at University College Dublin, to which he donated his library of books on art and architecture in 1927. He was elected a member of the Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI) in 1896, and a member of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (MRIAI) in 1912.. He died on 15 June 1930. At the time of his death he was living at 26 Adelaide Street, Dunlaoghaire, county Dublin. His death was registered in Rathdown, county Dublin in 1930.
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001