| Office: | Judge of the Circuit Court |
| Nominator: | Government of Ireland |
| Appointer: | Mary Robinson |
| Term Start: | 1997 |
| Term End: | 2016 |
| Term End1: | November 1992 |
| Term Start1: | February 1987 |
| Office1: | Teachta Dála |
| Constituency1: | Dublin North-East |
| Office2: | Dublin City Counciller |
| Term End2: | 1987 |
| Term Start2: | 1985 |
| Constituency2: | Artane |
| Birth Date: | 5 May 1953 |
| Birth Place: | County Wexford, Ireland |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Alma Mater: | University College Dublin |
Patrick John McCartan (born 5 May 1953) is an Irish lawyer who was a Circuit Court judge and a former politician.
A native of Wexford, he was educated at University College Dublin.[1] He first practiced as a solicitor working in criminal defence and was a founder of the McCartan & Hogan Solicitors law firm.[2] [3]
His first several elections were unsuccessful, contesting the 1981, the February 1982, and November 1982 elections.[3] However, he was elected to Dublin City Council in the 1985 local election for the Artane area,[2] [3] serving for 2 years before he was then elected to Dáil Éireann as a Workers' Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-East constituency at the 1987 general election.[3] [4] He was re-elected at the 1989 general election.[3]
In 1992 he joined with Proinsias De Rossa and five other Workers' Party deputies in resigning from the Workers' Party and in the creation of a new party, New Agenda which subsequently became Democratic Left.[2] [3] He stood as a Democratic Left candidate at the 1992 general election but lost his seat.[5] After the collapse of the 1992–1994 Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition government Democratic Left joined in a new coalition with Fine Gael and the Labour Party. This government subsequently appointed McCartan to the bench as a Circuit Court judge.[2]
He retired as a judge in August 2016.[2]