The Sligo Champion was founded in 1836 by proprietor and editor, Edward Howard Verdon (four times mayor of Sligo). When Verdon died in 1858, the paper was taken over by Thomas Gaynor until his death in 1885.
It was briefly owned by Sligoman, Tadhg Kilgannon before passing to P.A.McHugh. McHugh was an ardent nationalist, Mayor of Sligo and elected MP for North Leitrim in 1892. Under his control the paper became a leading nationalist organ. After his death in 1909 the business was held in trust for his family until his son Alfred took over the running of the paper around 1920.
In 1932, Alfred McHugh sold the Champion to Champion Publications Ltd, a consortium consisting of Senator John McLoughlin, Martin Roddy and William Townsend amongst others.
Independent News & Media plc acquired the paper from the Townsend family in Feb 2008.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1836–53 The Champion, or Sligo News
- 1853–2006 The Sligo Champion
