Donahoe, Patrick (1811–1901) editor, publisher, and businessman, was born 17 March 1811 in Munnery, Kilmore, Co. Cavan, the son of Terrence Donahoe and his wife Jane (née Christy). His mother died when he was an infant. In 1821 he emigrated, with his father, to Boston, Massachusetts, and spent one year at the Adams School in Boston, before being apprenticed to the Columbian Centinel, aged fourteen, to learn the printing trade. He also spent a short period with the Boston Transcript, from where he claimed he was nearly dismissed for not working on Christmas day. A lifelong association with catholic journalism commenced when in 1829 he went to work for George Pepper on the newly established Jesuit, or Catholic Sentinel. When this paper was reorganised in 1832 he worked very closely with H. L. Devereaux, with whose aid he founded the Boston Pilot in 1836. This paper became the most influential and popular catholic weekly in the States. In the meantime he had also built up significant wealth as a merchant and a banker, which, combined with his publishing interests, made him the richest and most influential catholic in New England. His publishing company mainly catered for Irish-American talent, with such writers as Thomas D'Arcy McGee (qv) and Anna H. Dorsey among the most popular.
A prominent member of the Democratic party, Donahoe advocated the gradual emancipation of slaves but disliked the extremism and anti-catholicism of many abolitionists. In 1861 he supported the war to preserve the union and helped to organise the 9th and 28th Massachusetts regiments. During and after the war the Pilot often featured heroic tales of the actions of Irish soldiers fighting for the union.
The great Boston fire of 1872 seriously damaged Donahoe's business interests: his publishing plant and church goods store were destroyed, plunging him deeply into debt and creating a panic which led to the collapse of his bank. In 1876 he was forced to sell the Pilot to help pay the bank's depositors. Two years later he founded Donahoe's Magazine, a monthly magazine dedicated to catholic and Irish-American affairs. It gained a wide subscription and published the works of respected writers such as Ethna Carbery (qv) and Imogene Guiney (1861–1920). The success of this magazine allowed him to repurchase the Pilot in 1891 and helped restore his banking business. He then relinquished control of Donahoe's Magazine. Highly regarded in catholic circles, in 1893 he received the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame University. His popularity among Irish emigrants was ensured by his foundation of a money exchange which allowed Irish immigrants to send money home safely. He also gave large donations to charitable organisations set up to alleviate the problems faced by Irish immigrants.
Donahoe was married twice. Kate Griffin, his first wife, whom he married 23 November 1836, died in 1852. He married Annie E. Davis on 17 April 1853. He had three sons and a daughter. He died 18 March 1901 in Boston, and his funeral was attended by most civic bodies and thousands of Irish-Americans.