Darren Tierney PhD

Financing the faith: Scottish Catholicism, 1772-c.1890

Supervised by Dr Karly Kehoe and Professor Daniel Szechi

Darren joined the Centre for History as a PhD research student in September 2010. He holds an LLb (Hons) from Glasgow Caledonian University and a MLitt in History (with merit) from the University of Glasgow. Prior to joining the Centre, he worked for two years in the welfare-to-work sector.

Darren's research focused on 19th Century Catholicism in Scotland, with particular reference to lay wills, gifts and legacies. The project sought to establish the importance of the Highlands laity to the Scottish Mission by considering not only monetary gifts and legacies but also those that took on a non-monetary form. In doing so it threw new light on the interaction between the laity and the clergy (and bishops) and generally added a new level of detail to our understanding of Catholicism in the region.

In addition to his own research, Darren also assisted with teaching at the Centre and took on the role of Newsletter and Seminar Series Co-ordinator for the Scottish Catholic Historical Association.