Patrick James Leahy, younger brother of John Leahy, was born in Ireland and emigrated to Australia where he established a small chain of provincial newspapers. In 1884 he established The Thargomindah Herald and Cooper's Creek Advertiser. By the 1920s he also had newspaper interests in Longreach, Beaudesert, Cunnamulla, Crow's Nest, Mitchell, Pittsworth, Esk, Clifton and Charleville, and ran rural monthly magazines including The Farmer's Gazette and The United Graziers' Journal. He also launched The Johnstone River Advocate in Innisfail.
Leahy was also involved in Queensland politics. He represented Warrego in the Legislative Assembly from 1902 to 1908 and sat in the Legislative Council from 1912 until its abolition in 1922.
Source: Rod Kirkpatrick. Sworn to No Master. Toowoomba: Darling Downs Institute Press, 1984.
