Sean was born in Manchester. His parents were from Tuam, County Galway and Castletown Geoghegan in County Westmeath and he has lived in Northern Ireland since 1999.
Sean is a professor of History in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy, Philosophy and Politics. In January 2021, alongside Dr Leanne McCormick, UU, he published a research report entitled ‘Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene Laundries in Northern Ireland 1922-1990’. Sean's teaching and research interests include working class family and community, oral history, gender history, consumerism, the social history of modern Britain and the social history of modern Belfast. He is an editor of the journal Oral History and a founder of Quote Hub, Queen's oral history related collective and website.