Dan Sheahan was born at Meelin, County Cork, Ireland, the eldest of 14 children.
In 1905 he arrived in Melbourne and worked with his uncle for a period before travelling around Australia. In 1915 he was at Coonabarabran, New South Wales, when he enlisted in the A.I.F. He became a member of the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion, trained as a Lewis Gunner, and saw active service in Flanders and at the Somme.
After the war, Sheahan cut sleepers and bridge girders at Bellingen, New South Wales. He then travelled to the Charters Towers district in Queensland where he worked as a contractor carrying water. Moving on, he selected a property at Long Pocket (near Ingham) and became a successful cane farmer. In 1926 Sheahan met Molly Walsh. The couple married and had four sons and two daughters. Sheahan was a member of the Cardwell Shire Council in the 1920s.
As a poet, Sheahan was widely known for his work, 'The Pub With No Beer', which was first published in January 1944. About 1958 Gordon Parsons came up with a differently worded song sung by Slim Dusty. Ultimately Sheahan was recognised as the original writer but he never received any royalties.
