My main areas of interest are the economic, social, political and military aspects of Ireland and in particular Sligo in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
I was awarded a PhD from NUI Maynooth in 2009 from a thesis which examined the Protestant Community in Sligo, 1914-49.
My current area of research is Sligo in the eighteenth century and also The Great Famine. I am also investigating how local and county based studies can provide a much more complete picture of Irish history.
Areas of expertise
Local history studies.
Sligo town and county.
Eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Military and political history.
Economic changes over time.
Member Details
Nickname
Padraig Deignan
Membership Type
Professional Historian
Experience
Education
I am a graduate of NUI Maynooth where I was awarded a PhD under the supervision of Prof. RV Comerford. I was also awarded a BA, an MA in Culture & Colonialism and a Higher Diploma in Education from NUI Galway.
I also hold an MA in Military History and a Masters in Education.
Teaching
Former Leaving and Junior Certificate History teacher.
Former Special needs teacher.
Former Lecturer in Diploma in Folklore & Heritage of the North West & MA Historical & heritage Studies of the North West, St Angela’s College, Sligo.
Former Tutor, NUI.
Outreach activities
Presentations:
30 March 2006 – ‘The Protestant community in Sligo during the First World War’, NUI Maynooth.
15 February 2007 – ‘The Protestant community in Sligo, 1914-23’ Belfast.
1 March 2008 – ‘The Protestant community in Sligo during the First World War.’ Irish History Students Association Conference, NUI Galway.
18 May 2008 – ‘The importance of fraternities and social clubs for the Protestant community in Sligo, 1914-1949.’ Associational culture in Ireland and the wider world, c.1750-c.1940, NUI Maynooth.
24 September 2009 – P.R. & the Sligo borough election of 1919’, Sligo.
26 June 2009 – ‘Six Sligo Protestant landowners’, Sligo.
27 January 2010 – ‘The Protestant community in Sligo, 1914-23.’ Peace III Project exploring the history of Sligo as a Garrison Town, the legacy of the Anglo-Irish in Sligo.
17 June 2010 – ‘Sligo and the First World War’. Sligo Military History Association, Sligo.
25 August 2011 – Illustrated Talk: Owen Wynne VI of Hazelwood, ‘The Twilight of an Era’. National Heritage Week. Sligo Park Hotel.
12 May 2012 – ‘The First use of PR: the Sligo Borough Elections of January 1919’. Sligoe: 400 years of the Borough by Sligo Field Club. The Glasshouse, Sligo.
5 August 2013 – ‘Sligo Port Strike of 1913’. Ballymote Heritage Festival Weekend, Ballymote.
13 August 2014 – ‘The Importance of Fraternities and Sporting Clubs for the Protestant Community in Sligo, 1914-49’. Peace in the Fleadh, Fleadh Cheoil Sligo 2014, Methodist Hall, Wine St., Sligo.
3 August 2015 – ‘Sligo and Home Rule, 1886-1914’. Ballymote Heritage Festival Weekend, Ballymote.
13 August 2015 – ‘Unionists of north and south Sligo are buckling on their armour and preparing for a fight’ (Sligo Independent, 4 June 1892)- Sligo Unionist opposition to Home Rule at the end of the nineteenth century. Fleadh Cheoil Sligo 2015, Sligo City Hall.
13 April 2016 – ‘1916 – Opposing Attitudes within County Sligo Communities’. Riverstown Enterprise Development (Sligo) Ltd. Sligo Folk Park, Riverstown.
17 March 2017 – ‘Sligo men in the Connaught Rangers 1914-19’. Military History Association, Dublin
18 May 2019 – ‘The Social & Economic Impact of the Great Famine on Sligo’. National Famine Commemoration, Sligo Town Hall.
12 June 2020 – ‘Frank Carty’. Decade of Centenaries, Sligo Library.
9 December 2020 – ‘Linda Kearns’. Decade of Centenaries, Sligo Library.
22 September 2022 – ‘Impact of the Civil War on the Protestant community in Sligo’. Exploring the Civil War in Sligo. Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo.
Committees & Associations
Member of:
Irish Association of Professional Historians
Sligo Field Club
Military History Society of Ireland
Eighteenth-Century Ireland Society
Connaught Rangers Association
Teaching Council of Ireland
Awards
Fellowship of the National University of Ireland
Publications
Books
The Protestant community in Sligo, 1914-49 (Dublin, 2010).
Land and People in Nineteenth Century Sligo: from Union to Local Government (Sligo, 2015).
Sligo in the Eighteenth Century (Sligo, 2021)
Book Chapters
Chapter Twelve, ‘The importance of fraternities and social clubs for the Protestant community in Sligo, 1914-1949’ in Jennifer Kelly & R.V. Comerford (eds.), Associational culture in Ireland and Abroad (Dublin, 2010).
Other Journals
‘P.R. & the Sligo borough election of 1919’ in History Ireland, xvii, No. 3 (May/June 2009).
‘Sligo Protestants and the Sligo borough election of January 1919’ in Sligo Champion, 10 June 2009.
‘Sligo Protestants and the First World War’ in Corran Herald, 2010/2011.
‘The Importance of Fraternities and Social Clubs for the Protestant Community in Sligo’ in Corran Herald, 2011/2012, pp 9-15.
‘The Protestant community in Sligo, 1914-49’. Irish Economic & Social History, vol.37, 2010, p. 37+.
‘Owen Wynne VI: the Twilight of an Era’ in Corran Herald, 2012/2013, pp 8-13.
‘Sligo Port Strike of 1913’ in Corran Herald, 2013/2014, pp 50-56.
‘The North Sligo Estate of Lord Palmerston before the Famine’ in The Spark, No. 27 2014, pp 3-8.
‘Division within the Sligo Volunteers at the outbreak of the First World War’ in Corran Herald, 2014/2015, pp 43-48.
‘Corporal John Fallon – the only Ranger in a family of soldiers’ in The New Ranger, Vol. 9 Jan. 2015.
‘Sligo and Catholic Emancipation’ in Corran Herald, 2015/2016, pp 62-66.
‘A Mad Scheme – the reaction of Sligo Unionists following the 1916 Rising’, Sligo Champion, The Sligo Rising Supplement, 25 August 2016.
‘A Close-up of North Sligo at the height of the Great Famine’ in The Spark, No. 29 2016, pp 15-16.
‘The Pre-Famine Population of Sligo’ in Corran Herald, 2016/2017, pp 36-38.
‘Corporal John Fallon – the only Ranger in a family of soldiers’ in Corran Herald, 2017/2018, pp 27-30.
‘The Pre-Famine Population of Sligo’ in The Spark, No. 30 2018, pp 3-6.
‘Parnell almost snatches victory from the jaws of defeat – The North Sligo By-election of 1891’ in Corran Herald, 2018/2019.
‘Sligo was changed forever’ – The Social & Economic Impact of the Great Famine on Sligo’, Sligo Champion, 14 May 2019.
‘Sligo Protestants and the Sligo Borough Election of January 1919’ in Corran Herald, 2019/2020, pp 49-54.
‘Patrick Higgins (1877-1956): The Life and Poetry of The Rossmore Rural Rhymer’ in Corran Herald, 2020/2021, pp 13-18.
‘The Sligo Volunteers, 1778-93’ in Corran Herald, 2021/2022, pp 11-15.
‘When Sligo Starved in the Eighteenth Century’ in Corran Herald, 2022/2023, pp 7-14.
‘A Selection of Sporting Activities in Eighteenth Century Sligo’ in Corran Herald, 2023/2024, pp 8-12.
’Sligo fire-eaters – Duelling in the Eighteenth & Nineteenth Centuries’ in Corran Herald 2024/2025, pp 41-8.
