Patrick L. Hearne, also spelled Hern, Hearn or Herne, (died July 4, 1859) was an American gambler, sportsman and underworld figure in New York City during the mid-19th century. He was the first man, along with fellow gambler Henry Colton, to open "first-class" casinos in the city during the 1830s. His self-named resort in lower Broadway was especially popular in the years prior to the American Civil War and regarded in the city as "perhaps the most famous gambler of the era". Biography Early life and arrival in America Born in Waterford, Ireland, Patrick Hearne belonged to a family who "held a most high and respectable position" in the local county and whose his father was a respected solicitor. One of his sisters married a Colonel Williams, a highly distinguished British officer who served in the Crimean War, while another became a nun in a Roman Catholic convent. He and two of his brothers eventually emigrated to United States where one, a judge, served as a prominent member of the New York bar. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts from Dublin University, Hearne left Ireland for Canada where there were then plenty of positions open to young men hoping to practice law. Hearne was unable to find work, however, and moved to New York City where he eventually "found himself penniless at the old City Hotel". On his first day in the city, while walking down Broadway, he ran into an old friend from Dublin. His friend advised him to go to New Orleans, where large groups of Irish immigrants were settling, and loaned him some money to get him as far as Baltimore. Once there, he left his trunk behind and proceeded on foot to the nearest reachable point on the Mississippi River. He walked a distance of several hundred miles and, coming across the first riverboat, he was able to convince its captain that while he could not pay for passage he would pay him his fee once he was able to find employment. The captain, "struck by his good address and pleading presence", agreed to his request. Time in New Orleans Once in New Orleans, Hearne was immediately hired by one of the top law firms in the city. His university training served him well and, after a brief probationary period, he was hired as a full-time member with a salary fixed at $1,800 a year.