Edmund 'Garryowen' Finn (13 January 1819 – 4 April 1898) was an Australian journalist and author who wrote many colourful descriptions of the life and people in early Melbourne.

Finn was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, the son of William Finn and his wife Catherine, née Mason. He was educated at The Abbey School, Tipperary (The Tipperary Grammar School Sometime in the 1670s, the first of what would be a sequence of four schools was built beside the River Ara. The ruins of the Augustinian abbey were demolished and the stones used in the building of a grammar school with residential accommodation, located farther back from the river than the old abbey. An arch from the old abbey was left standing, as a memorial to the past. In July 1693, during the Williamite Wars, the town was attacked, during which the school was burned. Nearly a decade passed before a new school was built; this time, one that lasted for over a century.

Smith’s education charity depended on income from the estates set aside for the purpose and for the first forty years or so, Joseph Damer of Shronell managed the property. That he died, reputed the richest man in Ireland, owning for example, the parishes of Cullen, Bruis, Lattin and Shronell, suggests his own interests came first.

The governors of the charity met in Dublin and consisted of influential figures in religion and politics, all members of the Church of Ireland. Down the country, headmasters were appointed and left to get on with their schools, the success or otherwise of a school totally depending on the head’s character and ability. Pupil numbers were small. In the mid-1730s, there were 30 boys in the Abbey; a name that appears to have been in popular usage from early days.

In the second decade of the 19th century, a new school with accommodation for up to a hundred boarders, was built. This ambition was ahead of reality. While the school was Church of Ireland, it sometimes employed Roman Catholic teachers to encourage Roman Catholic pupils; for example, Michael Slattery at the end of the eighteenth century (archbishop of Cashel & Emly, 1833-57); John O’Leary (Fenian) some decades later and Thomas St George McCarthy (founder of the GAA) in the 1870s. Just before the Famine, pupil numbers collapsed and the school was temporarily used as a military barracks.)

Finn arrived in Melbourne on 19 July 1841 and was employed as a tutor of the classics. In 1845 Finn joined the staff of the Port Phillip Herald under editor George Cavenagh. He worked on The Herald for thirteen years. In 1858 the chief secretary, John O'Shanassy, who had been at school with Finn, appointed him clerk of the papers of the Victorian Legislative Council, a position from which he retired on a pension in 1886 due to failing eyesight.

In 1878 he published Der Eggsberiences ov Hans Schwarts … with Humorous Interleaves. The Garryowen Sketches … 'by an old Colonist' were reprinted as a book in 1880. The Chronicles of Early Melbourne 1835 to 1852 by Garryowen, in two volumes, were published in 1888.

Finn married twice. A son, Edmund, published A Priest's Secret (Melbourne, 1888) and other works.

• Finn, Edmund (Garryowen) (1878), Der eggsberiences ov Hans Schwartz, Melbourne: Alex. M'Kinley & Co., Printers
• Finn, Edmund (Garryowen) (1880), The "Garryowen" sketches : historical, local, and personal, Melbourne: A. McKinley & Co
• Finn, Edmund (Garryowen) (1888), The chronicles of early Melbourne, 1835 to 1852 : historical, anecdotal and personal, Melbourne: Fergusson and Mitchell

• 'Finn, Edmund {Garryowen} (1819–1898)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, MUP, 1966, p. 376. Retrieved on 19 October 2008
• Serle, Percival (1949). "Finn, Edmund". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 19 October 2008.