Patrick Walsh
Distinguished Irish American

Patrick Walsh was born in Ballingary, County Limerick, in 1840. With his parents and brothers, he emigrated to Charleston, South Carolina in 1852, and by 1858 he was a graduate of Charleston High School and a journeyman printer. In 1861 and 1862, he was a lieutenant in the Emerald Light Infantry, CSA.

Walsh moved to Augusta in August, 1862, and was hired as a printer with the Augusta Constitutionalist. He was appointed Associated Press Representative, and joined the Editorial Staff of the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinal in 1866. Elected to Augusta City Council in 1869, he actively supported the expansion of the Augusta Canal. By 1873 he was President of the Augusta Chronicle, and was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1873 to 1878.

Patrick Walsh was active in the business life of Augusta, purchasing the Daily Chronicle and Sentinal with Henry in 1873. With other prominent Augustan, over the next seven years he organized and invested in the Augusta Savings Institute, Sibley Manufacturing Co., Chronicle Publishing Co., Augusta Summerville Railroad Co., and Wheles Stamp Press Co. He served as Vice President  of a Company formed to hold the successful national Exposition of 1888 in Augusta. In 1894 he was appointed U.S. Senator from Georgia. Elected Mayor of Augusta in 1897, he was serving that office when he died in Augusta on March 19, 1899.

Patrick Walsh excelled in fields of journalism, business, and politics for over thirty years. The people of contributed to a memorial fund, and erected the bronze statue of Patrick Walsh in Barrett Plaza as a tribute to this outstanding Irish American.