Early Years
Joe Cahill, as he was popularly known, was born in Redfern, and was educated at St Brigid's convent school, Marrickville and the Patrician Brothers' College, both in Sydney. He became an apprentice at the Eveleigh workshops of the contemporary equivalent of NSW RailCorp in 1916.
Politically active even at the age of fifteen, he was even more politically active during his twenties. He opposed Conscription in 1916, and lost his railway job in 1917 after taking part in a workers' strike and had difficulty finding permanent employment afterwards, working in many small jobs (including selling insurance for a year). In 1922, he married Esmey Mary Kelly.
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