Peter de Loughry

Peter de Loughry (or Deloughry; 1883 – 23 October 1931) was an Irish nationalist and politician, who was a leadership figure in Kilkenny city in the early 20th century.

Background De Loughry married Winifred Murphy in 1911. Winifred would share her husband's political agenda, and would become president of Cumann na mBan in County Kilkenny during the Irish Revolutionary period.

Leading the IRB in Kilkenny De Loughry was a committed Irish nationalist long even before the events of the 1916 Easter Rising, which would spark a surge of support in Ireland for Nationalism in its wake. In 1912 the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), the Irish nationalist secret society, decided to try and re-establish a chapter of its organisation in Kilkenny City, and it was de Loughry who became the primary organiser of the chapter.

Irish Volunteers On 5 March 1914, a company of Irish Volunteers was established in Kilkenny City. The Irish Volunteers were a paramilitary force created in response to the creation of the Ulster Volunteers. The Ulster Volunteers were a force created to violently resist the creation of an All-Ireland Parliament in the event of Home Rule being granted to Ireland by the British Government. The Irish Volunteers, in the event the Ulster Volunteers moved to do this, would have attempted to counteract them. However, in mid-1914 there was a split in the Irish Volunteers when John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, called upon the Irish Volunteers to join the British Army and serve in World War I. This move was strongly and vocally opposed by the most radical nationalists among the Volunteers, among them the IRB. Those volunteers who followed Redmond's call took on the name National Volunteers while those who refused to join the British Army retained the name Irish Volunteers.

In Kilkenny in September 1914, de Loughly approached an assembly of Volunteers and asked those who rejected Redmond to leave their ranks and join him. Thomas Treacy, who witnessed this, described the event:

As demonstrated by the small numbers who switched over to de Loughry, previous to 1916 the Irish Parliamentary Party remained extremely strong in County Kilkenny, partially because the Redmond family who led the IPP were based in County Waterford, which directly borders County Kilkenny.

Nonetheless, de Loughry pressed on with his radical Nationalist agenda. By 1916 those Volunteers in Kilkenny who had taken the anti-Redmond stance consolidated around de Loughry. De Loughry who ran a garage in Kilkenny city, converted part of it into a foundry and arsenal and began producing homemade grenades. The garage also meant De Loughry had easy access to vehicles, meaning he was able to provide transport and quick communication for his organisations. He was also briefly Brigade Commandant of the Irish Republican Army army units in Kilkenny until he was once again arrested by British authorities. De Loughry was able to use his metalworking skills to forge a master key that was subsequently used in the successful escape of the other three from the prison, an event considered a major political and military coup for the nationalists against the British. De Loughry remained behind as his release date was just a few weeks away regardless.

During the Irish Civil War, de Loughry was in favour of the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, leading him subsequently to joining Cumann na nGaedheal.

Post-war period He was elected to the Irish Free State Seanad in 1922, but lost his seat at the 1925 election. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency at the September 1927 general election. He died in office on 23 October 1931; no by-election was held for his seat.

A book about him called Peter's Key was published in 2012. The book recounts the story his involvement in the plot to free Éamon de Valera from Lincoln Gaol during the Irish War of Independence. During and after the escape from prison de Loughry remained the Mayor of Kilkenny, a position he held for six consecutive years.