Oliver Martyn

Oliver Martin (also Martyn) was an Irish County Galway landowner.

The son of Richard Martyn of Dunguaire Castle, he represented Galway Borough in the Patriot Parliament of 1689. Although he was attainted for his support of the deposed James II, he managed to hold on to his lands through the provisions of the Treaty of Limerick.

In 1709, when the British House of Commons passed the first major piece of anti-Catholic legislation, Oliver Martin's Tulira estate was exempted from its property clauses because, as James Hardiman wrote, it had been noted that "Oliver Martyn, of Tulliry, Co Galway, Esquire, was, during the rebellion, a person who behaved himself with great moderation, and was remarkably kind to numbers of Protestants in distress, many of which he supported in his own family, and by his charity and goodness saved their lives". Therefore, it was "enacted that he might enjoy his estates to him and his heirs, and settle and dispose of the same to his eldest son and heirs male."

He married Frances, daughter John Donellan of Ballydonnelan, and Mary Daly, daughter of Charles Daly of Calla. They had had three sons.

ources

* "The Tribes of Galway", by Adrian James Martyn, Galway, 2001.