{{Short description|Australian pastoralist (1834–1898)}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox person |name = Patrick Durack |image = Patrick Durack 1880.jpg |image_size = 240px |caption = Durack in 1880 |birth_date = March 1834 |birth_place = [[Scarriff]], [[County Clare]], Ireland |death_date = {{death date and age|1898|1|20|1834|3|1|df=y}} |death_place = [[Fremantle, Western Australia]] |education = |occupation = Pastoralist |title = |spouse = Mary Costello |parents = Michael Durack & Bridget Dillon |children = [[Michael Durack]] }}
'''Patrick Durack''' (March 1834 – 20 January 1898) was a pastoral pioneer in [[Western Australia]].<ref name=adb>{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Durack |first= Mary |year=1972 |id=A040117b |title= Durack, Patrick (1834–1898) |accessdate=22 March 2008 }}</ref>
His family were struggling [[tenant farmer]]s from the [[List of townlands of County Clare|townland of Magherareagh]] near [[Scarriff]] in [[County Clare]], [[Ireland]], who moved from Ireland to [[New South Wales]] in 1853. Two months after arriving in New South Wales, his father, Michael was killed accidentally. He settled his mother and siblings, and moved to Victoria, returning 18 months later with £1000.<ref name=adb/>
On 31 July 1862 Durack married Mary Costello, only daughter of Michael Costello, a native of [[County Tipperary]], and his wife Mary Tully, a native of [[County Galway]]. Patrick and Mary had eight children (two of whom died in infancy), including [[Michael Durack]].
Goulburn provided insufficient outlets for Durack's energy, land hunger and organizing powers. Along with his brother Michael and brother-in-law [[John Costello (pastoralist)|John Costello]], they set out to establish a property in [[South West Queensland]] in 1863. Drought conditions almost killed the men, but they continued around the country pegging claims to some {{convert|17000|sqmi|km2|order=flip}}.<ref name=adb/> The men established both Kyabra and [[Thylungra]] Stations in 1868<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stockandland.com.au/news/agriculture/property/general-news/clyde-finally-shifts-thylungra-for-105m/1329609.aspx|title=Clyde finally shifts Thylungra for $10.5m|date=9 August 2014|accessdate=19 September 2014|work=Stock and Land|publisher=[[Fairfax Media]]}}</ref> with 100 cattle. By 1877 the Duracks had a herd of approximately 30,000 head of cattle.<ref>{{cite book|title=Significant People in Australia's History|author=Rees D. Barrett|page=26|year=2009|publisher=Macmillan Education|ISBN=9781420266191}}</ref>
Durack and his brother Michael trekked across the north of the continent from Thylungra at [[Cooper Creek|Coopers Creek]] in [[Queensland]]. They left in 1879 with 7250 breeding cattle and 200 horses, heading for the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region of [[Western Australia]] near [[Kununurra, Western Australia|Kununurra]], arriving in 1882. The {{convert|3000|mi|km|order=flip|adj=on}} journey of cattle to stock [[Argyle Downs]] and [[Ivanhoe Station]] is the longest of its type ever recorded.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/western-australia/lake-argyle-village/2005/02/17/1108500208248.html|title=SMH Travel - Lake Argyle Village|date=17 February 2004|accessdate=15 May 2011|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref>
In 1885, he retired to [[Brisbane]]. Later that year he purchased gold-crushing machinery from [[Sydney]] and began mining on the [[Kimberley Goldfields Road District|Kimberley goldfields]]. In 1889 he learned that financial disaster had overtaken his Queensland interests. He died in [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]] on 20 January 1898.<ref name=adb/>
''[[Kings in Grass Castles]]'' is a 1959 novel based on his life and times by his granddaughter Dame [[Mary Durack]]. In 1998 it was the basis of a TV mini-series of the same name.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/durack-patrick-3457 Australian dictionary of Biography Online]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Durack, Patrick}} [[Category:1834 births]] [[Category:1898 deaths]] [[Category:Australian pastoralists]] [[Category:Irish emigrants to colonial Australia]] [[Category:Settlers of Western Australia]] [[Category:19th-century Australian businesspeople]]