Co. Sligo

Sligo, a flourishing port, was a close borough at the disposal of Owen Wynne. He returned himself on succeeding his father in 1789 and occupied the seat until June 1806, when he sold it to Col. George Canning of Garvagh for an annuity. The chief secretary was surprised and evidently disappointed when Wynne continued the arrangement with Canning in 1812, thinking the bargain had terminated and that Wynne would either sit himself, return his son-in-law, or offer it to government.Add. 40216, f. 48; 40280, ff.

Sligo, the ‘first trading port’ in the province of Connaught, had a thriving business in the export of grain and butter and also employed a ‘few linen and stocking weavers’, but its streets were ‘badly paved’ and of a ‘neglected appearance’.