Jack Lynch was born on August 15th, 1917, within earshot of the bells of Shandon Cathedral, Cork. He came from a small-farming background. His father Dan, a tailor, grew up on a farm at Baurgorm, near Bantry, and his mother, Nora (nee O'Donoghue), a seamstress, was also from smallfarmer stock at Glaunthaune, Co Cork.
Jack Lynch was the youngest son and, on his own recollection, "the wild boy of the family". He attended the local Sisters of Charity primary school and in 1931 won a scholarship to the "North Mon" (North Monastery) CBS in Cork. It was there that he first began to distinguish himself in sports. He captained the school hurling team in 1935 and 1936 and won two hurling cups. He also won Munster College senior hurling medals in 1936 and 1937.
After his Leaving Certificate, Mr Lynch opted for a career in the Civil Service following a brief spell 1936 with the Dublin District Milk Board, where his brother, Finbar, worked. He served as a clerk of the Cork Circuit Court from 1936 until 1943. During this period he also studied law at UCC and, when he was transferred to Dublin, completed his last two years of study at King's Inns. He was called to the Bar in 1945.
During this period he was promoted from the Dublin District Court to become private secretary to the Secretary of the Department of Justice, the late Stephen A. Roche. He also continued his sporting career, helping the Civil Service Football Club win its first Dublin Senior Football clubchampionship in 1944 while also winning wider acclaim at national level.
He played with the Cork team that won five out of six all-Ireland hurling finals between 1941 and 1946. In the one year that Cork hurlers did not win the title, 1945, he was a member of the Cork football team that won that year's all-Ireland championship. His local teams in Cork were Glen Rovers for hurling and St Nicholas for Gaelic football.
He usually played mid-field but towards the end of his career played at centre field. His last match was in 1951 when he was prevailed upon to play with Cork in a New York hurling fixture. At the time he was parliamentary secretary for the Department of Lands. In all he was to win six all-Ireland medals, eight Railway Cup medals and 11 county medals.
Despite his distinguished GAA career, he always took a liberal approach to the organisation's cultural rules and was once suspended for attending a "foreign dance". On the field he had a reputation as a "clean" player and was never sent off.
Later he was to say, "I think I learned from hurling and football a discipline and a self-control, how to cope with both victory and defeat.
After qualifying at the Bar, he resigned from the Civil Service and built up a highly successful practice in the Cork Circuit Court. On August 10th, 1946, he married Mairin O'Connor. They had met in 1943 when both were on holidays in Glengariff.