John O'Brien (1878-1952)

Brief Biography

John O'Brien was the pseudonym of Patrick Joseph Hartigan, born in 1878 in Yass in New South Wales. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1903 and was appointed inspector of Catholic schools in the Goulburn diocese in 1910. He later became parish priest for Narrandera from 1917 to 1944, when he retired. He published two volumes of verse: Around the Boree Log and Other Verses (1921) and The Parish of St Mel's in 1954. He died in 1952.

Bibliography

Poetry Collections
Around the Boree Log and Other Verses 1921
The Parish of St Mel's 1954

Biographies
'John O'Brien' and the Boree Log 1981, by Frank Mecham

Selected Poetry

You can read the full text of the following John O'Brien poems:

At Casey's After Mass
Around the Boree Log
Calling to Me
The Old Bush School
One By One
Ownerless
The Presbyt'ry Dog
Said Hanrahan
Tangmalangaloo
The Trimmin's on the Rosary

This page and its contents are copyright ©2002-03 by Perry Middlemiss, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: February 1, 2003.