Pat was born in the fishing village of Burtonport in County Donegal.

In 1964 he boarded the boat at Larne and made the journey to across the sea to find work. He spent a year living in Scotland before he decided to move to England and relocated to Leicester as work was plentiful in the Midlands.

He was lured to London as it promised more opportunities and in the 1960s had a significant population of Irish immigrants. His uncle was living in Kentish Town so he moved to stay with him.

In January 1966 he decided to take a weekend trip to visit his family in Luton, the weekend turned out to be longer than expected and he decided to stay in the town after he managed to get himself a job at Vauxhall Motors.

When the Ellesmere Port Plant opened in Cheshire he relocated there for a year and later returned to work at the Bedford Truck plant in Dunstable.

His wife Chris and her family moved from County Leitrim in 1951. The couple were married in 1972. They have three children one of whom still lives in Luton, the other two have moved on one to London and the other to Sydney, Australia.