Patrick Hartigan was the oldest surviving son of Patrick Joseph Hartigan, produce merchant, and his wife Mary, both from Clare, Ireland. He was educated at Saint Patrick's College in Goulburn and the Ecclesiastical College in Manly. He was ordained a priest on 18 January 1903. Over the years he was the parish priest in Narrandera, the inspector of Catholic schools in Goulburn and the chaplain at the Sisters of the Sacred Heart Convent in Sydney.
In 1906 Hartigan began publishing verse in journals such as the Albury Daily News, Catholic Press and the Bulletin. He was encouraged by George Robertson (q.v.), C. J. Dennis (q.v.) and others to publish his poetry. Apart from the well-known Around the Boree Log and Other Verse, and one other selected work, The Parish of St Mel's, he wrote On Darlinghurst Hill (1952) and The Men of '38 and Other Pioneer Priests, edited by T. J. Linane and F. A. Mecham (1975).
