Patrick James Leahy (June 1860 – 13 October 1927) was an Irish-born Australian journalist and politician who served as a member of both the

Queensland Legislative Council The Queensland Legislative Council was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which to ...

and the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

Early life

Leahy was born in June 1860 at

Schull Schull or Skull ( ; or ''Scoil Mhuire'', meaning "Mary's School") is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the municipal district of West Cork, the town is dominated by Mount Gabriel (407 m). It has ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, to Patrick Leahy, farmer, and his wife Mary (née Coghlan). Educated at Schull National school, he came to the

Colony of Queensland The Colony of Queensland was a colony of the British Empire from 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federal Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-day State of Queensland, ...

in 1887 to join his brother, John Leahy and began work as a journalist with the

Brisbane Courier ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

. He then moved to

Western Queensland Western Queensland encompasses the three western regions in the Australian state of Queensland: * North West Queensland, often known as Gulf Country; * Central West Queensland; and * South West Queensland. History Karuwali (also known as '' ...

where he established ''The Herald'' newspaper in

Thargomindah Thargomindah (frequently shortened to Thargo) is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. The town of Thargomindah is the administrative centre for the Shire of Bulloo. In the , Thargomindah had a population o ...

and became secretary of the Bulloo Divisional Board. In 1900 he established the Johnstone River Advocate newspaper (later the

Johnstone River Advocate and Innisfail News The ''Innisfail Advocate'' was a newspaper published in Innisfail, Queensland, Australia. History Patrick James Leahy launched the ''Johnstone River Advocate'' on 6 December 1906. On Leahy's death in 1927 the newspaper was purchased by William ...

) in Innisfail.

Political career

After being a member of the Bulloo Shire Council for several years, Leahy stood as a Ministerialist candidate for the seat of Warrego at the 1902 state election, defeating the sitting

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member, David Bowman. He held the seat until the 1907 state election when was defeated by Labour's George Barber. Leahy appealed the outcome on the basis that Barber was an uncertified insolvent and in September the Elections Tribunal reversed the result and Leahy was declared duly returned. In November 1907, Leahy was appointed as Secretary for Public Works and Mines but at the 1908 state election, he lost the seat to

Harry Coyne John Henry “Harry” Coyne (16 January 186512 June 1926) was an Australian politician who served as a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the Electoral district of Warrego from 1908 until 1923. Early life John Henry Coyne was ...

of the Labour Party. On 1 July 1912, he was called up by the

Denham Ministry The Denham Ministry was the 26th ministry of the Government of Queensland and was led by Premier Digby Denham, who led the Ministerialist party consisting of a mixture of liberals and conservatives. It succeeded the Kidston Ministry on 7 Februar ...

to the Legislative Council. He took a leading role in fighting against the abolition of the council, making many well considered speeches against it. When the

State Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, Sir

Hamilton Goold-Adams Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams, (27 June 1858, in Jamesbrook, County Cork – 12 April 1920) was an Irish soldier and colonial administrator, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1915 to 1920. Early life Born in the townland of Jamesbrook in ...

was being pressured by the Labour Government to make additional appointments to the council, he called on Leahy who was opposed to the idea to hear his views on the matter. Leahy was constantly and strenuously opposed to any legislation that savoured of socialist or communist ideals. He had a good knowledge of law, especially laws that applied to the land, and was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

Personal life

On 13 December 1885, he had married Julia Alice Costello at Thargomindah and together had five children. He died in October 1927 and was buried in

Toowong Cemetery Toowong Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on the corner of Frederick Street and Mt Coot-tha Road, Toowong, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was established in 1866 and formally opened in 1875. It is Queensland's largest ceme ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leahy, Patrick Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Members of the Queensland Legislative Council 1860 births 1927 deaths Burials at Toowong Cemetery People from Schull Politicians from County Cork Irish emigrants to colonial Australia Colony of Queensland people Writers from the British Empire