YouTube star from Offaly makes Forbes' "30 under 30" list

An Offaly native has been named alongside climate change activist Greta Thunberg on a prestigious list of Europe’s leading young innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders.

Clogan's Sean McLoughlin, better known as 'Jacksepticeye', has achieved phenomenal success as a creator of YouTube videos generally based around video games. 

In a tweet this week, he said he was "honoured" to be named on Forbes magazine's "30 under 30" list.

"This is such a crazy club to be part of and I am eternally grateful for all the good that has come my way! Thank you," he wrote.

Sean has over 23 million subscribers to his YouTube channel and Forbes magazine estimated that he earned $11 million last year.

In addition to regularly uploading his colourful and amusing videos, he has started a clothing brand with another popular YouTube gamer, Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach.

The local man, who turned 30 last month, lived in Athlone for a few years before moving to Brighton, England, in 2017. 

His mother, Florrie McLoughlin, said many people wrongly thought her son was from Athlone but that he was "a Cloghan man through and through." 

"He's a great lad and he never gave us an ounce of bother from when he was a child. So I'm delighted for him, that he's doing so well," she said in an interview in recent years.

The Forbes list, published annually, highlights "young visionary leaders brashly reinventing business and society."

It consists of 300 young people from 32 European countries.