Paddy Glynn

Patrick McMahon Glynn KC (25 August 1855 – 28 October 1931) was an Irish-Australian lawyer and politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1901 to 1919, and was a government minister under three prime ministers, as Attorney-General (1909–1910), Minister for External Affairs (1913–1914) and Minister for Home and Territories (1917–1920). Prior to entering federal politics, Glynn was involved in the drafting of the Constitution of Australia. Born in Ireland, he arrived in Australia in 1880 and served three terms in the South Australian House of Assembly, as well as a brief stint as Attorney-General of South Australia.

Early life Glynn was born on 25 August 1855 in Gort, County Galway, Ireland. He was the third of eleven children born to Ellen and John McMahon Glynn; his father ran a large general store. His younger brother was Joseph Glynn. Glynn received his initial schooling in Gort from the Sisters of Mercy. In 1869, he began boarding at Blackrock College on the outskirts of Dublin, where he won prizes in French, Latin and Greek. He left school in 1872 and began reading law, serving his articles of clerkship with a local solicitor James Blaquiere. Glynn enrolled at Trinity College Dublin, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1878 and also attending the King's Inns in preparation for a career as a barrister. After a period in London at the Middle Temple he was called to the Irish Bar in April 1879. In the chamber Glynn was an unwavering advocate of free trade, but his support of female suffrage and land nationalisation isolated him from his conservative colleagues. As a result, Glynn was not only comfortably elected to the single statewide Division of South Australia but, together with Reid, he is said to have "created Australia's first national political campaign".

Government minister At the 1903 election, the statewide constituency was abolished and Glynn was returned unopposed in the Division of Angas. He was re-elected on five further occasions, and was unopposed at three consecutive elections (1910, 1913 and 1914).

Despite his ties with Reid, Glynn was not offered a place in the Reid government (1904–1905). He joined the new Liberal Party after the 1909 "fusion" with the Protectionists, and subsequently served as Attorney-General under Alfred Deakin from 1909 to 1910. He returned to ministerial office in 1913 as Minister for External Affairs in the Cook government, holding the position until the government's defeat at the 1914 election. In 1917, the Liberals merged with Prime Minister Billy Hughes' National Labor Party, forming the Nationalist Party. Glynn's final ministerial post was as Minister for Home and Territories from 1917 until his defeat at the 1919 election. In that capacity he handled the Darwin rebellion of 1918.

Later life

Glynn retired from politics in 1919, and died at North Adelaide in 1931. He married Abigail Dynon, who predeceased him, and was survived by two sons and four daughters.

Legacy In 2016, the Australian Catholic University established a new public policy think tank based at its North Sydney campus, which was named the PM Glynn Institute.