Late in the 19th century a child was born in the British-occupied city of Dublin. On November 10, 1879, Margaret Brady gave birth to her second baby, a healthy boy. His father, James, was an Englishman from Devonshire and was a skilled stonecarver. James worked in Dublin constructing churches which is where he met and married Margaret and together they had four children. They named their second child Patrick. Even though Margaret was a Dublin native, her family were originally from Co. Meath and spoke Irish fluently. It was from this setting that Patrick fell in love with the Irish language and his further schooling by the Christian brothers of Westland row strengthened it further. The Christian brothers at the time were renowned for being able to beat education into just about anyone, but they didn't have to try hard with Patrick - he was a born learner. By the time he had completed his education, he had earned a BA in modern languages at University College in Dublin and a Law degree from Royal University. In all truth though, he never had any opportunity to put his law degree to any real use.

He spent much of his time journeying back and forth to the Irish west coast to master the Connacht dialect of Gaelic. The people in the west spoke Gaelic exclusively and hadn't been overtaken by English oppression. He noted sadly that the academic community looked down upon and made fun of the Irish language, viewing the Gaelic speaking natives as uneducated and worthy of scorn. But Patrick had a different opinion, believing that he had much to learn from Gaelic literature and history. Naturally, this didn't make him too popular among most of his peers.

In 1896, at the age of only sixteen, he joined the Gaelic League. The purpose of the league was to promote Irish tradition and language, which was part of the Gaelic revival that took place around the turn of the century. He soon became an important member, becoming editor of the league's newspaper , An Claidheamh Solais - The Sword Of Light. He loved writing and poetry. The Gaelic league soon attracted more than just those interested in writing however, it became a focal point for the growing trend of nationalism that was starting to creep in under the English rule. Patrick showed a lot of interest in the military way of thinking that some of these new members brought in with them, he was starting to see that words may not be enough to win back the Irish way of life.

In the year 1908, he opened St. Enda's School

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