Close
Sadie’s research focuses on Irish Catholics recruited into the British Army during the American Revolution, a time when they were legally unable to enter service, but during which significant numbers were recruited nonetheless. Her research identifies Irish Catholic recruits and seeks to integrate their experience as soldiers into wider historiographical questions of imperial soldiering and the history of allegiance and subjecthood in the British empire. This group is unlikely to have left diaries or correspondence, therefore she reconstructs their military lives through the official record, focusing on methods of recruitment and tracking their careers via muster lists, promotion records, troop returns, officer correspondence, and pension applications. Archival collections of Catholic nobles involved in recruitment are also used to help identify individual soldiers for further investigation. Through analysis of this material, Sadie argues that Irish Catholic recruits proved to be effective soldiers who were well-integrated into the regiments in which they served. Further, Irish Catholics used the army as a place of belonging and a space where they could fit into the British Empire with soldiering as a uniting factor, rather than religion as a limiting one.
Sadie holds a BA in History (European track) from Franklin Pierce University and an MA in History from Boston College.
PhD
Supervisor: Dr Stephen Conway (Primary Supervisor) and Dr Jon Chandler (Secondary Supervisor)
Working title: “Patriots or Paychecks? Irish Catholic recruitment into the British Army for service during the American Revolution”
Expected completion date: 2024
Conferences
Society for the History of War Annual Conference, presenter
“Irish Catholic recruitment into the British Army during the American Revolution: A case study of the 46th Regiment of Foot” (Nov 27-28, 2022)
IHR British History in the Long 18th Century Lighting Talks, presenter
Presented the methodology and preliminary findings for “Patriots or Paychecks? Irish Catholic recruitment into the British Army for service during the American Revolution” (Mar 9, 2022)
Boston College Graduate Student Teaching Conference, panelist
Panelist in the “Experiences of Graduate Teaching Assistants” discussion (Aug 23, 2019)
American Conference for Irish Studies Annual Conference, presenter
“Illegal but Extensive: Irish Catholic Recruitment into the British Army for Service in the American Revolution” (April 20-23, 2019)
Comhfhois Boston College 2019: ANOIS: Navigating the field in 2019, organizer & panelist
Panelist in a roundtable discussion focusing on alt-academic careers (Feb 23, 2019)
Comhfhois Boston College 2018: ‘Living Irishness’, organizer (Spring 2018)
Publications and Exhibitions
Golden Spiders and Black Orchids: A ‘Satisfactory’ look into the life and mysteries of Rex Stout, John J Burns Library Exhibit (onsite and online), Boston College, Oct 2019-Jan 2020
Irish History Blog Series, John J Burns Library Blog, Boston College, Sept 2018-May 2019
Teaching
Post Graduate Teaching Assistant, Writing Lab, UCL
Post Graduate Teaching Assistant, HIST0007 Writing History, UCL
Graduate Teaching Assistant, HIST1011 Atlantic Worlds I, HIST1002 Europe in the World II, Boston College
Prizes and Scholarships
Presidential Scholarship, Franklin Pierce University, 2012-2016
Emily Flint Scholarship, Franklin Pierce University, 2015
