Thomas McLaughlin (engineer)
Irish engineer (1896–1971)
Thomas A. McLaughlin (14 June 1896 – 28 May 1971) was an Irish engineer from Drogheda, County Louth, and one of the key people in the Shannon hydroelectric scheme, an early icon of the Irish Free State. He then helped establish the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) which distributed electricity across Ireland and promoted the rural electrification of Ireland.
McLaughlin studied at University College Dublin and 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. McLaughlin 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.
Origin and early career
Thomas McLaughlin was born in Drogheda to Peter McLaughin, an excise office, and Sarah McLoughlin née McCabe. He was educated at Synge Street CBS. He gained physics degrees (BSc and MSc) at University College Dublin and was appointed as an assistant lecturer in the physics department at University College Galway where he also studied electrical engineering and gained a BE and PhD
In 1922, McLaughlin obtained a post with Siemens-Schuckert in Berlin, which was particularly active in hydroelectric projects. Professor F.S. Rishworth, the professor of Civil Engineering at Galway, aroused McLaughlin's interest in the possibility of the Shannon electrification by giving him a copy of John Chaloner Smith's (son of John Chaloner Smith) prize-winning analysis of the average flows from large catchment areas in Ireland.
The public source identifies “Thomas McLaughlin (engineer)” as irish engineer (1896–1971). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Thomas, McLaughlin and engineer.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Thomas McLaughlin (engineer)”, the useful work is to connect “irish engineer (1896–1971)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7792336. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1896, 1971 and 1922.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Thomas McLaughlin (engineer)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Thomas McLaughlin (engineer) primary sources, Thomas McLaughlin (engineer) archive and Thomas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Thomas McLaughlin (engineer)”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Thomas McLaughlin (engineer)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.