Patrick Minahan

Who is Patrick Minahan?

Patrick Joseph Minahan was an Irish-born Australian politician.

He was born at Killaloe in County Clare to bootmaker Patrick Minahan and Mary, née Murphy. He arrived in New South Wales around 1883 and by 1888 had established a boot manufacturing business. In 1900 he married Catherine Kinsela, with whom he had five children; in 1915 he remarried Elizabeth Mary Ward and had a further two children. He became involved in the Australian Labor Party and was a member of the central executive from 1907 to 1913, serving as vice-president in 1909 and president in 1910. In 1913 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Belmore, but he lost preselection in 1917. In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, he was elected as one of the members for Sydney. Defeated in 1925, he returned some months later after to fill the vacancy caused by John Birt's death. He was expelled from the Labor Party in 1927 and stood as an Independent Labor candidate, but was defeated. Minahan was later appointed a Knight of St. Sylvester by the Pope. He died at Lewisham in 1933.