Thomas McLoughlin

Who was Thomas McLoughlin?

Thomas A. McLoughlin was an Irish engineer and one of the key people in the construction of the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power plant.

Born in Drogheda, Ireland, McLoughlin studied at University College Dublin and the University College Galway. After qualifying as an electrical engineer, he started working for Siemens-Schuckert-Werke in Berlin in late 1922. He was impressed with the success of electrifying Pomerania, an area in Germany similar in scale to Ireland. McLoughlin promoted the concept of using the River Shannon as a basis for a hydro-electric and electrification scheme. He succeeded in having scheme adopted against intense political opposition. He later served as Managing Director of the ESB, the state electrical authority.