Patrick O'Loughran (''in Irish: Pádraig Ó Lochráin'') (died 1 February 1612) was a priest of the archdiocese of Armagh and an Irish Catholic Martyr. O'Loughran was born in Donaghmore, County Tyrone to an '' Erenagh'' family. He later became chaplain to Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. He left Ireland for

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to pursue his education some time before the Flight of the Earls in September 1607. He administered the sacraments to exiled Irish noblemen who had fled to

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, and served as chaplain to Catherine O'Neill, Countess of Tyrone. He also attended the Irish College, Douai,Clavin, Terry. "O'Loughran, Patrick", ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', 2009
/ref> where he met O'Neill and traveled with him to Rome. O'Loughran returned to Ireland in June 1611 and was arrested upon landing in Cork. Under interrogation, O'Loughran admitted that he had given sacraments to the exiled noblemen, and that he had assisted the Irish bishop, Blessed

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. Upon his confession he was committed to a dungeon and in January 1612, he and Bishop O'Devany were condemned to death. O'Loughran's closeness to Tyrone appears to have been the reason behind the government's decision to single him out. On 1 February 1612, they were brought from

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to George's Hill. The bishop asked to die last so that he could provide Father O'Loughran moral support in his moments before death, but the request was refused."The martyrdom of Bishop O’Devaney", ''The Saint Martin Magazine'', 2001
/ref> Father O'Loughran replied: "Aid me by your prayers with God, by whose help I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor anything else, will separate me from the love of Christ or from my companionship with you." Bishop O'Devany knelt to pray for O'Loughran before they were both drawn and quartered. Their bravery and faith inspired the crowd to surge forward to acquire relics. The remains were buried on George's Hill but disinterred the following night and given honourable burial. They were buried ‘with other martyrs’ in St James's graveyard. O'Loughran and O'Devany were beatified in 1992 as part of the Irish Catholic Martyrs. The Archdiocese of Armagh marked the 400th Anniversary of the Death of Blessed Patrick O’Loughran with a Mass at Blessed Patrick O’Loughran Primary School, Castlecaulfield." 400th Anniversary of the Death of Blessed Patrick O’Loughran", Archdiocese of Armagh
/ref>

References

Year of birth missing 1612 deaths Irish beatified people 17th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Martyred Roman Catholic priests People from County Tyrone People executed by Ireland by hanging, drawing and quartering People executed by the Kingdom of Ireland Executed Irish people 16th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 17th-century venerated Christians People of Elizabethan Ireland Beatifications by Pope John Paul II 24 Irish Catholic Martyrs {{Ireland-RC-clergy-stub