Thomas Tobin was born in Shandon Street, Dungarvan. He first worked in the clerical department of the Dickens Leather Company. Later he started to write for the Dungarvan Leader and the Dungarvan Observer. He was particularly associated with the Leader in which he wrote his Spotlight column. He opened a book shop in O'Connell Street and was becoming well known as a photographer.

In 1953 he wrote a book - Echoes from Decies - A Waterford Scrapbook which consisted of a collection of his own photographs of Dungarvan with accompanying text. In the same year he launched a new newspaper called The Waterford County Gazette. It comprised of eight pages and was published every Wednesday at a price of three pence. The paper was published and edited by Tobin and printed by the Greyhound & Sporting Press Ltd of Wexford. Because a town the size of Dungarvan could not support three local papers the Gazette ceased publication after a brief run. Tom Tobin later moved to Limerick where he became editor of the Limerick Leader and the Limerick Chronicle. He became a freelance journalist and was appointed P.R.O. to Shannon Development Company. He was well known for his regular page 'Rambling though Munster with Tom Tobin' in the Irish Weekly Examiner.

In 1987 Waterford County Museum Society mounted an important exhibition on the history of photography in Co Waterford. Mr Tobin's work was featured in the display and he generously donated a large collection of his negatives to the Museum archive.