Patrick Joseph Hartigan

Monsignor Patrick Joseph Hartigan (13 October 1878 - 27 December 1952) was an Australian Roman Catholic priest, educator, author and poet.

He was born at Yass in New South Wales and ordained after study at St Patrick's Seminary, Manly. Writing under the pseudonym "John O'Brien" Hartigan's verse celebrated the lives and mores of the outback pastoral folk he ministered as a peripatetic curate to the southern New South Wales and Riverina towns of Thurgoona, Berrigan and Narrandera, in the first two decades of the 20th century. His poetry was very popular in Australia and was well received in Ireland and the United States.

The refrain "We'll all be rooned" from his poem "Said Hanarahan" has entered the Australian vernacular as a jocular response to any prediction of dire consequences arising from events over which the speakers have no control.

Hartigan died in Lewisham, an inner suburb of Sydney in 1952.

A John O'Brien Bush Festival is held annually in Narrandera.

External links

* [http://www.krackatinni.netfirms.com/John-OBrien-List.html - Brief biography] and selection of Hartigan's bush poetry
* [http://www.bushpoetry.com.au/masterpoets/MasterPoetsHome/OBrienJohn/tabid/702/Default.aspx John O'Brien's Poetry] - brief biography and three poems
* [http://www.johnobrien.com.au/index.html The John O'Brien Bush Festival]
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090224b.htm ADB article]